|
|
Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Contact Information
Regional Focal Point
Ekatarina Pandeli, Ukraine - (Profile)
National Focal Points
Gvantsa Khizanishvili, Georgia - (Profile)
Yama Enayat, Afghanistan - (Profile)
Timur Norov, Tajikistan - (Profile)
Jelena Oginskaja, Ukraine - (Profile)
Marsida Cela, Albania - (Profile)
Eugeniu Graur, Moldova - (Profile)
To join the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Planning E-Group, please send a blank email to:
GYCA-EECA@groups.takingitglobal.org
Background
The number of people living with HIV in Eastern Europe and central Asia rose in 2006, as it had in 2005. An estimated 270 000 people [170 000–820 000] were newly infected with HIV in 2006, bringing to 1.7 million [1.2 million–2.6 million] the number of people living with HIV—a twenty-fold increase in less than a decade.
Almost one third of newly diagnosed HIV infec¬tions in this region are in people aged 15–24 years. The majority of young persons with HIV live in two countries: the Russian Federation and Ukraine, which, together, account for approximately 90% of all people living with HIV in this region (EuroHIV, 2006a).
As the epidemics evolve, more people are developing HIV-related illnesses and are dying. Progress in expanding access to antiretroviral therapy has been slow. As of mid-2006, fewer than 24 000 people were receiving antiretroviral treatment—13% of the estimated 190 000 people who need the drugs (WHO/UNAIDS, 2006). In the context of such inadequate treatment and care coverage, the AIDS death toll in Eastern Europe and central Asia grew in 2006 to 84 000 [58 000–120 000].
In Eastern Europe overall, using non-sterile injecting drug equipment remains the predomi¬nant mode of HIV transmission. An increasing proportion of HIV infections (37% of reported cases in 2005), however, are estimated to be occurring during unprotected sexual intercourse (EuroHIV, 2006a).
Source: UNAIDS, 2006 AIDS Epidemic Update, December 2006
Regional News
Orphans and HIV in Ukraine
by Ekaterina Pandeli, Regional Focal Point
In Ukraine, orphans are the face of HIV infection. Unfortunately, a huge number of babies born from HIV-infected mothers start their lives in orphanages. In many cases, a young HIV-infected mother doesn’t know what to do, and has no valid information about HIV and how to live with it. From birth, baby and mother encounter all forms of discrimination and stigma. As a consequence, most of those young mothers leave their babies in orphanages or leave them on the stairs of hospitals. Other children get to the orphanages because their parents die from HIV/AIDS. Their relatives don’t want to live with these children out of fear of infection. There are as many stories as there are children. And here is one of them.
Ukraine, 2000. 18-month old Nadya enters into one of the children’s hospitals in Kiev. Her mother has died from AIDS, and the girl is sent to the hospital in order to be tested. Once she is diagnosed as HIV-positive, medical personnel of a nearby orphanage do not want to accept her and Nadya is left in the hospital. At the beginning of the decade there was no medicine for HIV-positive people in Ukraine. Nadya’s health was getting worse every day. Staff of the hospital grew to love the girl very much, and eventually turned to a Ukrainian HIV-service organization for help. Despite their efforts, however, they were unable to get enough medicine for her. No one believed in Nadya’s survival, but she didn’t give up. She had a strong will to live, even though she was just two years old. .
When she turned four, Nadya moved to a new orphan house in which there was a group for HIV-infected children. She was the brightest child in the group and always tried to be noticed by adults. But as the time passed and these kids grew up, they realized that for some reason they were isolated. They saw visitors adopt kids from other groups, but no one wanted to come close to them. .
When Nadya turned seven, she was the oldest child in the group by three years. When it became timefor her to go to school, no school would accept her because of her HIV status. Because she was around only young children and because she couldn’t go to school, Nadya wasn’t able to grow. But she still didn’t give up. She believed that one day someone would come for her and take her to their family. And her dream came true. Today Nadya lives in a family, and has brothers and sisters. She goes to school and studies hard to be the best student in her class. .
Let us all hope that more and more kids each year will find their families, because childhood is the most important part of life; it allows for children to lay the foundation for the life ahead of them. These children depend on us - advocates, health workers, and orphanage staff - to be their families until they can find a family of their own. .
Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Phantom of the Destroyed Empire.
By Ekaterina Pandeli, EECA Regional Focal Point
The Eastern Europe and Central Asia region includes numerous countries, all of which have different traditions, religions, and cultures. Most countries in the region were formerly part of the USSR, and are still recovering from its political and cultural legacy. During that period, the country concealed real problems and their consequences, and there was lack of real opportunities and opportunities for achievement. Double-standard politics penetrated all spheres of citizens’ life: education, medicine, culture, work, and more.
After the break-up of the USSR, injection drug use grew rapidly. Youth found themselves at a crossroads: they had no confidence in tomorrow, and felt betrayed, lost and deceived. No one knew exactly what HIV/AIDS was, but at the same time mass media popularized the phrase “HIV/AIIDS is the plague of the 20th century!”
Now, in the year 2008, lots of things have changed. Not every youngster can tell you what the USSR was, but the phrase “HIV/AIDS is the plague of the 20th century” is still with us, as well as stigma and discrimination against infected people.
Now is the time for serious action. The typical slogan from earlier years, “It is time to meet HIV/AIDS face to face”, is not suitable any more. AIDS is no longer a problem of isolated groups, it is now among absolutely successful, safe layers of society, and the number of infected people grows steadily every year. These people can not be left alone. They need help.
Every person working in the HIV/AIDS sphere needs to be given clear goals. First of all, spread of information is key. Currently, the majority of people have no information, or incorrect information, about HIV transmission. Most of the people simply don’t know or ignore their status, and have no idea about the diagnosis or therapy. Because of this, HIV-positive women still give birth to HIV-positive babies. Because of this, sero-discordant couples are deprived of the opportunity to have healthy children and continue infecting each other. Because of this, injection drug users do not have information about harm reduction programs, where to get free disposable syringes, or join substitution therapy programs.
Medical institutions also need special attention and training regarding HIV/AIDS. Infected people often face stigma and discrimination when they turn to medical workers for help, which makes HIV+ people unwilling to go through therapy. The other problem is the low level of knowledge among medical personnel about diagnosing and treating of HIV/AIDS, which can lead to horrible results. To add to this problem, professionalized Social Work programs have only recently appeared in higher educational establishments. The majority of people hardly understand what social work is and why we need it.
It is not easy to make the first step, and we learned it on our personal experience. But nevertheless, it is time for us to believe and understand that our future is in our hands, and only together can we become stronger and more certain about tomorrow.
National Youth Strategy approved in Albania!
Marsida Cela, NFP for Albania, is currently serving as an a youth advisor to the government, compiling strategies and policies to help the government design the new National Youth Strategy. Since almost 70% of the Albanian population is below 30 years old, youth policies in the Albanian government aim to integrate youth as true and respected partners in government. The government is emphasizing the contributions of youth in the social, cultural and economic fields, in particular. Therefore, various mechanisms are being put in place to facilitate this process, including counseling, information dissemination, cooperation, monitoring and evaluation. Further participation is needed among departments and relevant ministries, youth and non-profit organization as well as the private sector. Specifically, creating regional youth networks that promote interaction and collaboration are especially useful.
Major achievements within the youth field during 2007 include the following:
a) Publication of the National Youth Strategy and the National Action Plan 2007- 2013
b) Fundraiser for National Youth Strategy and Action Plan
c) Establishment of the Youth Regional Networks in each prefecture
d) Establishment of the National Youth Agency
e) Development of a policy on norms and structure for the National Youth Agency
f) Creation of a capacity development program for youth organizations
g) Collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports to involve youth non-profits in the EU “Youth in Action” program
Eastern Europe and Central Asia: HIV/AIDS Peer Education Training for High School Students!
Trainings were organized in Macedonia in response to a recent country scandal, where high school youth from Skopje and Bitola filmed sex scenes in schools on their mobile phones. The mobile clips started to circle around the country and soon became top stories on all TV channels and media outlets.
Participants at the peer educator training
The training was organized with the initiative of the only medical high school in that part of the country, in order to train 10 young people to conduct peer education on HIV/AIDS and STIs in Bitola.
The HIV/AIDS peer education training gathered 10 carefully selected young people for three days in late March to meet in Strumica. The participants were trained on how to effectively educate their peers on HIV/AIDS and STI basics. With the support of local TV stations in Bitola, they are expected to organize TV shows to increase awareness among young people, their parents and local community stakeholders on the importance of having open conversations on HIV/AIDS and STIs.
Every participant in the peer education training is now obliged to conduct at least eight local gatherings with his/her peers, which began in April and will continue throughout the spring.
|
|
|
