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Svetlana Izambaeva was one of the first women living with HIV in Russia who was brave enough to open her face. Now Svetlana supports other people living with HIV. In summer 2018, Svetlana Izambaeva’s Non-Profit Charitable Foundation held a gathering of adolescents living with HIV with financial support of AFEW International and other donors. We talked with Svetlana to ask her what was interesting about this gathering in Georgia and why, when we talk about HIV, we also “uncover” other topics. 

Saturday morning at the Schiphol airport. A conference participant from Ukraine – camera operator Igor K. – finds out that his tablets are gone. In a second, a confident man loses his heart: he becomes pale, his hands are shaking, and his eyes are full of dread. Igor has been taking methadone therapy for a few years, and for him losing his tablets can be life-changing. In Ukraine, it is not possible to receive methadone at the weekend.

In 2011-2017, over eight thousand clients received 70,232 medical, psychological, social and legal services within ‘Bridging the Gaps: Health and Rights for Key Populations’ project in Ukraine. Halyna, Artem and Carl (names changed) were also clients of ‘Bridging the Gaps: Health and Rights for Key Populations’ project.

Fifty-year-old Zebo from a southern region of Tajikistan – Khatlon – is a former labour migrant. At the 22nd International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam (AIDS 2018), she had the courage to speak out about what she long kept in – her HIV-positive status. Zebo once again turned the attention of the international community to the fact that labour migrants are one of the populations most vulnerable to HIV. We interviewed her in Amsterdam, right after she delivered a speech at one of the sessions dedicated to HIV in the context of labour migration.

Maybe one of the most important sessions at the recent 22nd International AIDS Conference held in Amsterdam was the session, which raised the question why we still fail in responding to the epidemic among people who inject drugs. Participants of the session were able to consider this problem from the different points of view: science, law enforcement and community of people who use drugs.