News

We discussed the human rights issues in the context of HIV in Russia with Mikhail Golichenko. Mikhail Golichenko is a lawyer and Senior Policy Analyst at the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network — organization, which has a special consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Previously, Mikhail was a Legal Officer with the UNODC Country Office in Moscow. His work is focused on the promotion of human rights and addressing legal barriers to accessing health rights and effective HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs for prisoners and people who inject drugs. He holds a Candidate of Sciences degree (PhD equivalent) in Law.

Last week, on 15 May 2018, Penal Reform International launched its annual flagship publication, Global Prison Trends 2018, at the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. A Special Focus section looks at the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders in the era of sustainable development.

The total of 603 abstracts from Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) were submitted to 22nd International AIDS Conference AIDS 2018 to be held in July in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 182 abstracts out of them were selected for the abstract book, posters and oral presentations. These results were achieved with the support of AFEW International, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in partnership with EECA regional networks EHRA, ECOM, ECUO and GNP+.

Tamar Gakhokidze is a social worker in NGO Gepa Plus. She helps HIV-positive people and people with drug dependency. Last year, she received the Frida and Edita Sisters Award (which honours those who work within communities at the national and international levels in Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine – author’s remark) for leadership in social activism that improves the quality of life of key population groups and inspires other people to be socially active.

Russia accounts for two-thirds of the new HIV cases in Europe and Central Asia. This is what the UNAIDS data show. One of the key factors contributing to the further spread of the epidemic is low treatment coverage: only one-third of people who need treatment get it. This fact, as well as other problems of the region, were discussed at the VI Eastern Europe and Central Asia AIDS Conference (EECAAC 2018) held in Moscow on 8 – 20 April 2018.