News

11.06.08

The UNGASS high level meeting on HIV/AIDS continues its work in New-York.

In 2007, 2.5 million new HIV infection cases were registered in the world, and about 2 million people were killed by the pandemic. Almost 70 % of HIV-infected people do not yet have access to antiretroviral treatment.

These sad statistics were referred to by Ban Ki Moon, United Nations Secretary General, at the UNGASS high level meeting on HIV/AIDS. He called the situation unacceptable. Ban Ki Moon presented a report based on HIV control progress reports submitted by 147 countries. It follows from this document that as of December 2007, the total number of HIV-infected people in the world exceeded 33 million. The HIV pandemic has already killed 25 million people.

At the same time, as Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, noted at a press-conference, access to antiretroviral therapy has been drastically improved in developing countries: 5 years ago antiretroviral therapy was provided only in Western Europe and America, whereas now, it is provided to over 3 million people, including 2 million in developing countries.

Unfortunately, it does not refer to the USA, Russia, the Ukraine and China. While in the USA, it is MSMs who primarily contribute to the HIV growth, in China and Russia, the virus is transmitted through heterosexual contacts. According to Michel Kazatchkine, through the officially reported number of people living with HIV or AIDS in Russia is 350,00 people, their actual number is estimated at about 900,000 people, i.e. almost 1% of the country population. Certainly, these are very alarming figures.

Michel Kazatchkine, who had visited Moscow in May 2008 to attend the AIDS Conference, notes that Russia made some progress in this area, but yet, there are a lot of problems to be addressed. As he says, now Russian AIDS Centres provide 30,000 patients with needed pharmaceuticals, but it is not sufficient because many patients in need of treatment do not have access to it. E.g., it is very difficult for drug users have access to hospitals and specialized centres; the discrimination persists, so in Russia, it is also a social problem.

He points out that it is very important to make the G-8 leaders (who will soon meet in Japan) aware that it would be impossible to achieve the Millennium Development Goals unless we fight communicable diseases, in particular, TB, malaria and AIDS.

10.06.08

How has the world been meeting the commitments to deploy a global battle against AIDS? This is to be evaluated by participants of a High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS to be opened today in the UN Headquarters (New-York). The tree-day forum will bring together over ten heads of states and governments, over 100 ministers and more than 1,000 representatives from civil society and private business. The Russian delegation is headed by G.G. Onishchenko, Director of the Federal Oversight Service for Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare.

Ban Ki Moon, United Nations Secretary General, presented a report on the progress towards meeting the commitments worded by the UN member states in the Declaration adopted at the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS in 2001. That very meeting resulted into the established of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

The forum will include thematic sessions and roundtables to discuss new sources of funding for AIDS control, ways to overcome public intolerance to patients suffering from this plaque of the 21st century, and recommendations on HIV prevention and treatment to maximize the progress towards the goal of ensuring universal access to treatment by 2010.

In the Russian Federation, the HIV epidemic continues to grow: as of December 31, 2007, there were 416,113 registered HIV infection cases. The most affected groups are injecting drug users, commercial sex workers, men having sexual contacts with men, and prisoners as well as their sexual partners and illegal immigrants. The number of patients in need of antiretroviral treatment is increasingly growing. In recent years, prevention, treatment, care and support programs were significantly expanded, but in spite of certain progress in achieving the universal access targets by 2008, there is yet a need to cope with a lot of difficulties to attain the targets of 2010.

In the UN premises, there is a display of photographs highlighting the STOP-AIDS Car Marathon from Vladivostok to Moscow which was a most effective preventive campaign mentioned in the Country Report of the Russian Federation to the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS as a best practice. The car marathon was supported by the Russian Health Care Foundation.

The Russian Health Care Foundation was represented at the forum by M. Shegai and A. Pankratov, Program Coordinators.

28.05.08

On May 16, 2008, a roundtable was arranged by the City Administration of Rostov-on-the-Don to discuss healthy life stile as a prerequisite of family welfare.

On the same day, a Youth against AIDS campaign was conducted. It was supported by the Youth Policy Committee of the City Administration and took place in 7 sites in front of the universities.

On May 18, 2008, another campaign under the motto: Remember in order to live! was also led by the Youth Policy Committee of the City Administration in conjunction with NCOs. Its venue was a park in the city.

On May 19 - 21, 2008, the Generations’ Welfare Organisation delivered a number of prevention lectures in special secondary schools and universities. This effort was supported by the Division for Youth Affairs under the City Administration.

On May 24, 2008, the Centre of Children’s Creative Development displayed public awareness posters and photographs of the campaign of May 18, 2008. An HIV/AIDS-related performance was shown and then discussed.

The World AIDS Week was concluded with the annual event called Candlelight of the Don, on May 25, 2008.

The event included speeches of representatives from public sector and non-commercial organisations, dissemination of prevention literature, questions from the audience and answers by voltmeters. The Don-TR State TV and Radio Company interviewed participants and filmed the event. A memorial board with candles was established, and an array of balloons was launched up into the sky in the memory of those taken away by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

At the end of the World AIDS Week, a big concert of popular Russian singers and dancers was offered to the city.

The campaigns involved: the Department of the Federal Service of Drug Trafficking Control for the Rostov Oblast; the Choice Rostov Civil Society Youth Organisation; the Transformation Interregional Civil Society Organisation; and the Nazareth Rehabilitation Centre.

The campaigns were organized by: the Sparta Fund to help rehabilitate young drug addicts; Arch-Anti-AIDS Regional Civil Society Organisation; South Federal District AIDS Centre; and the Association of Christian Churches.

26.05.08

The Altai Kray will be the first region to pilot the HIV-Positive Information System. According to the Press-Service of the Altai Kray Administration, this news was broken during the visit of a monitoring expert team of the Program: Promoting a Strategic Response to HIV/AIDS -- Treatment and Care for Vulnerable Populations in the Russian Federation.

The experts had a meeting with Nikolai Cherepanov, Deputy Governor of the Altai Kray, Valery Yelykomov, Director, Regional Health Department, and Lenar Sultanor, Chief Physician of the Regional AIDS Centre to discuss the program implementation in the Altai Kray, its achievements and prospects for 2009 - 2010.

The Russian Health Care Foundation will procure office equipment and software for the Regional AIDS Centre. The Information System had been developed with inputs from specialists of all lead Russian specialized institutions with significant experience in developing and operating computer networks in this area. The software permits to solve practically any problems related to epidemiological, laboratory, clinical and service provision monitoring.

22.05.08

Yu. Brodskaya, Program Coordinator from the Russian Health Care Foundation, and specialists from the Monitoring and Evaluation Centre under the Central Public Health Research Institute (CPHRI) visited the Saratov AIDS and Communicable Disease Control Centre to assess the preparedness of the region for implementing the HIV-Positive Information System meant for information support in care provision to PLWH.

This Information System would enable to conduct epidemiological and clinical monitoring including the laboratory component. Lead specialists of the AIDS Centre were informed about the Information System. Under contacts with the Russian Health Care Foundation, required equipment and software will be procured. Upon equipping the work places of the AIDS Centre specialists, the System will be put in operation.

After Saratov, specialists from the CPHRI also visited the Volgograd AIDS and Communicable Disease Control Centre.

19.05.08

For purposes of sharing experience and advancing preventive activities among vulnerable populations, the Russian Health Care Foundation established seven resource centres for work with key vulnerable groups.

The services provided by the reference centres include:
- on-line consultations and fora;
- establishment of thematic e-libraries;
- information monitoring;
- delivery of thematic seminars;
- publishing of thematic digests; and
- development of databases of organisations operating in this area.

The reference centres are operated by the following organisations:

• HIV/AIDS Treatment Adherence and Palliative Care Reference Center: Return (St-Petersburg Regional NGO) http://www.ostrov.socspb.ru/main/palliative%20help/
• VCT Reference Centre: Humanitarian Project (Novosibirsk City NGO) http://human.org.ru/consulting/
• IDU Reference Centre: Anti-AIDS-Siberia (Altai Kray NGO) http://www.antispid.alt.ru/
• MSM Reference Centre: Infoshare (Regional NGO) http://msminfocenter.ru/
• CSW Reference Centre: Infoshare (Regional NGO) http://ksr.infoshare.ru/news/
• Reference Centre for work with children born of HIV-infected mothers: Irkutsk Oblast Department of the Russian Red Cross http://www.redcross-irkutsk.org/programmes/pr4
• Prisoner Reference Centre: Take Care of Yourself (Chelyabinsk City Charity Foundation) http://refcentr.takecare74.ru/

We are inviting organisations involved in such activities to turn to these reference centres for information and methodological support.

14.05.08

On May 13 - 14, 2008, a joint meeting was held by the Federal Oversight Service for Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor), Federal AIDS Centre, and UNAIDS to assess the progress towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in the Russian Federation. The meeting is a follow-up to the efforts to ensure universal access in Russia initiated in December 2005 during the 1st National Consultation Meeting on Universal Access which was held in Moscow.

The meeting reviewed various issues related to improved access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in Russia, progress to and prospects of achieving universal access by 2010, and produced materials for preparing a high-level meeting to be held in the UN Headquarters, in New-York, on June 10 - 11, 2008.

An extensive presentation was made by N.N. Ladnaya, Senior Research Officer from the Federal AIDS Centre, to describe the national goals associated with universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. On the second day, the meeting discussed such issues as HIV prevention: measures to achieve priority benchmarks of universal access by 2010, and HIV treatment: measures to achieve priority benchmarks of universal access by 2010 in working groups.

The two-day discussions resulted into identification of priority objectives and measures to be integrated into the processes of achieving each of the benchmarks and development of respective recommendations.

The Russian Health Care Foundation was represented by M. Shegai and A. Pankratov.

05.05.08

On May 3 - 5, 2008, the Second Conference on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia took place in Moscow

This major forum brought together over 2,000 participants from 52 countries of the region.

The overall goal of the Conference was to ensure effective mobilisation of health sector and civil society organisations involved HIV prevention and providing care to people living with HIV in the region as well as to give the floor to medical community, political leaders, and civil society (including people living with HIV and youth) to discuss the latest achievements and interventions in the area of HIV/AIDS control.

The Russian Health Care Foundation presented its Program: Promoting a Strategic Response to AIDS -- Treatment and Care for Vulnerable Populations in the Russian Federation implemented under the 4th Round of the Global Fund in 22 Russian regions.

Representatives from the Russian Health Care Foundation took part in three plenary sessions and parallel seminars. During the Conference, the Russian Health Care Foundation held a Satellite Meeting under the heading: Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence: Lessons Learnt, Achievements, and Difficulties. Yu. Brodskaya, Program Coordinator from the Russian Health Care Foundation, informed the audience about a Satellite Meeting on Advantages and Challenges of National Anti-AIDS Program Implementation by Civil Society Organisations Acting as Principal Recipients of the Global Fund’s Proceeds in the Ukraine and in Russia, which was arranged by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in the Ukraine.

Within the three days, representatives from the Russian Health Care Foundation held numerous meetings with medical specialists from regional AIDS and communicable disease control centres, representatives from Russian national regional AIDS service organisations, PLWH, representatives from the Global Fund, UNAIDS, Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation, Federal Oversight Service for Consumer Right Protection and Human Welfare, and the Federal Prison Service.

14.04.08

HIV pre- and post-testing counselling training is, as earlier, offered for physicians in the Irkutsk Oblast.

In February - April, 2008, Rub 250,000 was made available by the Russian Health Care Foundation for these seminars. They are delivered by staff of the Anti-AIDS-Priangarye Irkutsk Oblast Non-Commercial Organisation, and are meant to train physicians providing primary health care in justified referral to testing as well as in pre- and post-testing counselling. The seminars are attended by infectionists, obstetricians/gynaecologists, paediatricians, skin and venereal disease specialists, narcologists and other medical and non-medical specialists.

The RHCF will support 3 more seminars. The already delivered training took place in the settlement called Dzerzhinsk (on March 5 - 6, 2008) and in Shelekhov (on March 19 - 20, 2008). The forthcoming seminars will be held in Sayansk on April 23 - 24, 2008. The training was provided to over 40 health workers. The following topics were found most interesting for trainees: legal aspects of HIV; post-testing counselling for HIV-positive people; and HIV prevention among health personnel working with HIV-infected patients.

It is intended to generalize the gained experience in order to develop information products on HIV pre- and post-testing counselling.

14.04.08

According to the Press-Service of the Governor of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District, on April 11, 2008, a press-conference of N. Zapadnova, First Deputy Chairperson of the Regional Government, was held to discuss interagency cooperation in containing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Yugra.

The press-conference was also attended by T. Lazareva, Chief Physician of the Regional AIDS and Communicable Disease Control Centre, Yu. Brodskaya, Program Coordinator from the Russian Health Care Foundation, and a filming crew of the AIDS Ambulance TV Program headed by A. Lysenkov, TV Project Host, and Yu. Nepomnyashchikh, Program Producer.

As stated at a Regional Government meeting on April 11, 2008, today, there are 11,000 HIV-infected people in Yugra which is equivalent to about 0.7 % of the total population in the region. In some cities, e.g., in Nefteyugansk, Pyt-Yakh, Megion, and Yugorsk, HIV-infected people account for 1 % of their populations.

According to Natalia Zapadnova, First Deputy Chairperson of the Regional Government, an integrated approach to AIDS problems makes it possible to ensure their gradual mitigation in the region. She noted: "High-quality and timely public information about HIV, improved diagnostics, up-to-date treatment methods, and extensive public awareness activities under the Program: Promoting a Strategic Response to AIDS- Treatment and Care for Vulnerable Populations in the Russian Federation produce a good preventive effect. It is important to make people aware that HIV-infected people can live as other people, work and bear healthy children. Great responsibility for meeting this objective rests with mass media ".

The epidemic primarily hits young people aged 18 - 29, who use drugs, and who are prisoners. In recent years, the share of HIV-infected women increased which is indicative of the growing contribution of heterosexual transmission in the HIV spread.

A video spot called Vladivostok - Moscow was demonstrated to the journalists to inform them about the STOP-AIDS Car Marathon from Vladivostok to Moscow which took place in 2007 and was sponsored by the Russian Health Care Foundation. A. Lysenkov and Yu. Nepomnyashchikh. Told the audience about the preparation of a similar campaign to be called AIDS Ambulance Car Marathon and to be run in autumn 2008 from Novyi Urengoi to Sochi with a stop in Khanty-Mansiysk.

As a reminder, the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District is one of the 22 Russian regions implementing the Program: Promoting a Strategic Response to AIDS -- Care and Treatment for Vulnerable Populations in the Russian Federation.