Tuigunaaly Abdraimov released the initial findings of a Health Ministry commission following a visit Monday to two hospitals in the Osh region, where nine children, a mother and a doctor contracted the deadly virus.
"The commission found that [disposable] subclavian catheters had been used many times," the minister said.
The hospital's chief doctors, the top sanitary official and the head of the regional blood transfusion center have been dismissed over the scandal. Abdraimov said an investigation into the incident was continuing.
Registered cases of HIV/AIDs have been relatively low in the ex-Soviet state, but numbers are rapidly increasing. As of July 1, 1,233 HIV cases were reported in Kyrgyzstan, 70% of them being caused by intravenous drug use. The figure has risen more than fivefold since 2000, according to official statistics. Numbers of those infected as a result of sexual contact are increasing.
Prevention programs have been hampered by a lack of funding and a reluctance to provide information rooted in traditional attitudes and values.
A total of 79 children and eight mothers contracted the virus through blood transfusions and intravenous injections in neighboring Kazakhstan in the summer 2006. Eight children have since died.
