Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- This week, the authorities of southern Kazakhstan said that their citizens were infected with HIV in Uzbekistan in 2008. "Almost 2,000 out of 75,000 infants born in the region died last year. This is a 33-per-cent increase compared with 2007. A total of 24 mothers died while delivering babies. Due to the deplorable figures, residents of southern Kazakhstan began to more frequently receive medical treatment in neighbouring Uzbekistan, but some of them were infected with HIV there," one of the Kazakh TV channels reported.

"Today, we can frankly tell you that a part of infected children and adults we received from neighbouring country (Uzbekistan). We did not speak about this, but have to say this now," a deputy governor of South Kazakhstan Region, Valikhan Kaynazarov, said in an interview to the TV channel.

Kazakh hospitals lack necessary medical equipment and some doctors do not observe professional ethics, Kaynazarov said.

For his part, the press secretary of the Uzbek Health Ministry, Furqat Sanayev, denied this information.

He said that the information distributed by Kazakh media outlets - "The authorities of southern Kazakhstan said that their citizens were infected with HIV in Uzbekistan in 2008" - was groundless.

32 Kazakh children received treatment in Uzbekistan. HIV was discovered in one of them. Adults were treated in specialized clinics.

"It should be noted that until coming to Uzbek hospitals, the patients sought medical assistance in Kazakh local hospitals for several times, where according to the mentioned publication ’The ministerial commission discovered non-observance of professional ethics and absence of necessary instruments, and the quality of medical assistance does not stand up to criticism.’ This statement is a ground to believe that people were infected with HIV in South Kazakhstan Region itself," the representative of the Uzbek ministry said.

The Uzbek official says this shows that Kazakh Health Ministry admits critical situation in its hospitals.

"Taking these into account, the Uzbek Health Ministry declares that comments of the deputy governor of South Kazakhstan Region, Valikhan Kaynazarov, are groundless," Sanayev said.