AFEW: For journalists >> Russian Federation Receives US$89 million to Fight AIDS

Russian Federation Receives US$89 million to Fight AIDS

On 17 October 2003 the board of directors of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) approved the five-year US $89 million application by the NGO Consortium for the Russian Federation that was submitted in May to address the serious HIV/AIDS epidemic unfolding in the country. The five-member consortium, consisting of Russian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Open Health Institute (OHI), FOCUS-MEDIA and AIDS infoshare, and international NGOs AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW) and Population Services International (PSI), has gained years of experience addressing the growing epidemic in Russia.

With this decision, Russia will benefit from HIV/AIDS funding that is still in short supply. The expansion of existing pilot programmes to fight HIV/AIDS will be accelerated and new initiatives will be launched. At present, over 250,000 young people are officially registered as HIV positive in the country. However, many HIV cases go unreported. Official sources estimate this amount is three-to-five times higher and predict that there may be up to 5 million people living with HIV/AIDS by 2005.

The approved GFATM proposal represents an integrated approach to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with four main objectives: 1) Supporting sustainable prevention programmes to increase awareness and reduce the transmission of HIV among youth and the general population; 2) Supporting sustainable prevention programmes to reduce the transmission of HIV among vulnerable groups; 3) Providing treatment, care, health promotion and social support to people living with HIV/AIDS; and, 4) Building capacity and advocating for improvement in the national policy environment to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on infected, affected and vulnerable persons.

While the consortium members and their partners will be the primary implementers of these activities, they will co-operate closely with local and regional counterparts and key federal government ministries, including the Ministries of Health, Justice and Education.

The coming months will be dedicated to finalising contractual details between the NGO Consortium and the GFATM.

For further information, please contact:
Open Health Institute (OHI)
Alexey Bobrik
Deputy Director
Tel: +7 095 7307812, mob: +7 916 3101323
Email: abobrik@ohi.ru

AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW)
Rian van de Braak
General Director
+7 095 2506377, mob: +7 095 1082964
Email: rian_van_de_braak@afew.org