Over the last seven years, Russian young people have acquired more responsible attitudes towards their health

Date: 16 June 2005
Time: 12:00
Place: Independent Press Centre, 20 Tverskoi Bulvar, Moscow

On 16 June there will be a presentation of the results of five mass media campaigns on safer sex in Russia which have been carried out over the last seven years by the Dutch non-governmental humanitarian organisation AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW) and the FOCUS-MEDIA Foundation for Social Development and Health Care. The target audience of these campaigns was young people between 15 and 25 years of age.

Russia was the first country of the former Soviet Union where informational campaigns on safer sex were started in the mass media. All of these campaigns were aimed at promoting safe sex practices and condom use as one of the most effective ways of preventing HIV, sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy. The first campaign was launched in 1997, by which time Russia had one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world. Over the following seven years, AFEW and FOCUS-MEDIA carried out five informational campaigns based on international experience. Each new campaign was based on the results of the preceding one.

To evaluate the effectiveness of mass media campaigns, sociological research was carried out, which has provided evidence of significant positive changes in the sexual behaviour of young people. While in 1997 just 20% of respondents said that they always used condoms, by 2005 this figure has risen to 45%. Today, 76% feel that people who do not use condoms are behaving irresponsibly towards their health. There has also been a huge increase in the general level of knowledge among young people on HIV and its routes of transmission.

Tanja Grechukina, Senior Programme Advisor at AFEW, says that ‘Preventive programmes, and especially informational campaigns, can be seen as a “vaccine” against HIV. As our research shows, in Russia young people gain almost 90% of their information about HIV/AIDS from the mass media, and not from doctors, family or friends. A high quality informational campaign is therefore a powerful way of influencing the behaviour of young people and stimulating responsible attitudes towards health among them.’

Until 2001, the main route of HIV transmission in Russia was through the unsafe use of injecting drugs, however the number of cases of sexual transmission is currently growing at a significant rate. In some regions, sexual transmission now accounts for the majority of new cases. In this climate, it is especially important that young people have access to reliable information about how to protect themselves and their health. According to official statistics, there are currently 318 000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Russia, and estimates by the World Health Organisation put the figure closer to 1 million. The majority of people living with HIV/AIDS in Russia are young people under the age of 30.

Accreditation to take part in the presentation: Until 6 p.m. on 15 June, by calling (495) 250 6377

Contact Person: Ekaterina Militskaya, AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW)
E-mail: ekaterina_militskaya@afew.org
At the end of the presentation there will be drinks and light refreshments.