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AFEW: Projects >> 1^st Mass Media Campaign on Safer Sex (Russian Federation) >> Press-Release

Press-Release

Medecins Sans Frontieres launches Safe Sex campaign to fight HIV/AIDS in Russia

Moscow, June 19 1997. The international, independent, medical relief organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) launches a mass media campaign in Moscow to promote Safe Sex as an instrument in the fight against AIDS. The Safe Sex campaign is part of an HIV/AIDS prevention program that MSF is implementing in Moscow, in close co-operation with health authorities and local NGO's.

AIDS is an increasing threat to the Russian population. Only officially recorded in the late eighties, the HIV virus - the cause of AIDS - has spread rapidly among the population in the past years, hi 1996 the number of people tested HIV positive exceeded the combined figure recorded for the previous nine years. A Russian health official estimated that in the year 2000 as many as 800,000 Russian citizens may be infected. The HIV virus affects the immune system. About half of the adults infected with HIV show symptoms within ten years. Their immune system down, AIDS patients eventually die of common opportunistic diseases. AIDS is still considered 100 percent fatal.

Russia has the advantage of being aware of the AIDS epidemic while it is relatively in its infancy, and can still hope to limit its damage. This advantage may unfortunately be abolished by the fact that Russians quite often perceive AIDS as an 'exotic' disease and safe sex is the exception rather than a rule. The approach of prevention by disseminating information and raising awareness, has proven effective in many countries. The Russian authorities and local NGOs however have not yet succeeded to join forces and start effective prevention programs. Massive and mandatory testing is still the official policy. By implementing a comprehensive AIDS prevention campaign, in close co-operation with authorities and local NGOs, MSF hopes to give an important impulse to the AIDS prevention in Russia.
The MSF AIDS-prevention program, consists of three different projects, all focusing on the availability of information and on raising awareness about HIV and AIDS.

· A mass media campaign will address young Muscovites with the slogan: safe sex, my choice!. The use of condoms will be promoted as a matter of responsibility and caring for your partner, rather than a sign of mistrust, as it is now often perceived.
· A harm reduction program for the large group of intravenous drug users in Moscow is to decrease the risk of infection due to joint use of needles and other hazardous use of drugs.
· Information dissemination about HIV/AIDS Prevention for professional health workers will be improved, by issuing a resource guide with names and addresses of relevant national and international organisations working in the field of HIV/AIDS care and prevention, by translating and publishing high-standard publications about HIV/AIDS, and by organising a fflV/AIDS/STD workshop for health workers. This project is developed and carried out in co-operation with the Russian NGO 'AIDS infoshare'.
The Safe Sex campaign will appear in the Moscow and Russian media as of June 19 and is slated to run throughout 1997. The AIDS prevention program was intended to serve as a model for preventive programs to be adopted for long-term use by the authorities and local NGOs.

For further information please contact the MSF Moscow office
Country Co-ordinator: Rian van de Braak
AIDS program Co-ordinator: Oscar Bernal