# Research Training for Substance Use Mediated HIV Epidemic in Kazakhstan

> **NIH NIH D43** · SUNY DOWNSTATE MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $80,991

## Abstract

The New York State International Training and Research Program (NYS-ITRP) at SUNY Downstate
Health Sciences University proposes to train health care professionals on how to improve COVID-19
prevention and vaccination acceptance/access in people living with HIV (PLWH) in Almaty, Kazakhstan
(KZ). To inform our training we will collaborate with our in-country Kazakhstan (KZ) partners, Kazakh
National Medical University School of Public Health and Global Health Research Center of Central
Asia, to assess COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and acceptance among 230 PLWH. The COVID-19
pandemic has had a substantial impact on morbidity and mortality, socioeconomic wellbeing and
mental health. Since March 2020, over 375,000 cases of coronavirus infection were registered in KZ
with >4,000 deaths. The pandemic has caused severe social disruption and dislocation in KZ, most
significantly among PLWH. These effects include the disruption of HIV treatment services in KZ and
potential negative impact on ART adherence and HIV treatment outcomes among PLWH. In addition,
PLWH maybe vulnerable to suboptimal COVID-19 treatment and vaccine access. Finally, COVID-19
vaccine hesitancy in PLWH may be an additional barrier to adequate care. The specific aims of this
proposal are to: 1) examine COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and acceptance among 230 PLWH in Almaty,
KZ; and 2) develop and conduct a webinar for KZ’s National AIDS Center health care professionals to
improve knowledge on factors that contribute to COVID-19 vaccination acceptance among PLWH in
KZ. In collaboration with our partners, a multidisciplinary team of KZ and US epidemiologists, clinicians
and social workers, the project will study COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and acceptance among PLWH in
KZ. This study will provide the critical data for our collaborators to create webinar content for health
care providers in AIDS Center networks, with whom our partners have previously established
collaborations. Webinar contents will focus on the pandemic’s impact on PLWH, vaccine hesitancy and
barriers to vaccination in PLWH, and health care worker communications with PLWH to overcome
these barriers.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10416680
- **Project number:** 3D43TW010046-06S1
- **Recipient organization:** SUNY DOWNSTATE MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Jack A DeHovitz
- **Activity code:** D43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $80,991
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2016-04-15 → 2026-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10416680

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10416680, Research Training for Substance Use Mediated HIV Epidemic in Kazakhstan (3D43TW010046-06S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10416680. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*