ALMATY, Nov 28 (Reuters) - The number of people living with HIV in Kazakhstan could be three times higher than official figures, a U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) official was quoted as saying on Tuesday. At least seven small children died in the Central Asian nation over the past few months due to transfusion of blood suspected of containing the virus, raising concerns about the country's health system. "The real number of HIV-positive people in the republic could be two or three times higher than the officially registered number of cases, and that has been the case in most countries," UNICEF's representative in Kazakhstan, Alexander Zuyev, was quoted as saying by Kazakhstan Today news agency. HIV/AIDS infection levels rose dramatically in Central Asia and Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, mainly among young drug addicts and prison inmates. Official numbers show there were a total of about 7,000 HIV patients in Kazakhstan as of October this year. Last year the number rose by almost 20 percent compared to 2004. Many Kazakh hospitals date back to Soviet times and are badly maintained due to a lack of state funding and corruption, officials say.
