Amsterdam Youth Force, Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) and AFEW International invite applicants from Eastern Europe and Central Asia region (EECA) to submit drafts abstracts for XXII International AIDS Conference 2018 in Amsterdam (AIDS2018) to board panel of experts for review. The deadline is extended until 25th January 2018.
Eastern Europe and Central Asia is the only region in the world where the AIDS epidemic is on a steep rise. Whereas the whole world celebrates 50% decrease in the new cases of HIV, the EECA region has experienced almost 60% increase in annual new HIV infections between 2010 and 2015. In 2015, there were an estimated 1.5 million people living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The vast majority (85%) of people living with HIV in the region live in Russia and Ukraine. As one of the means to tackle the language barrier AFEW International comes up with an initiative to build up a pool of language buddies – a group of enthusiastic people residing in the Netherlands, speaking English and Russian (the common language for the EECA region) who are willing to support delegates from EECA at the Conference.
This year, the issue of treatment coverage for people living with HIV has been broadly discussed in Russia on World AIDS Day. We are talking on this topic with Vinay Patrick Saldanha, Director, Regional Support Team for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, UNAIDS.
The UNAIDS 90-90-90 target, stipulating that 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression, was the key issue brought up at the National Conference dedicated to the World AIDS Day in Tbilisi. The conference motto was ‘Test All, Treat All, End the AIDS Epidemic in Georgia!’ Conference participants signed the Declaration ‘End the AIDS Epidemic in Georgia.’ The Declaration is a summary of the key effective measures to be taken to curb the AIDS epidemic in the country.
In October this year, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Tajikistan published the list of members of LGBTI groups in the departmental magazine. In the register, there are 319 gays and 78 lesbians. “They have all been identified in the course of operations implemented by the national law enforcement department codenamed “Morality” and “Purge.” The fact that they belong to LGBTI groups has been proved and they have been entered into the police register,” informs the magazine.
United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) Michel Kazatchkine was recently announced
International AIDS Society (IAS) is looking for Global Village and Youth Activity (GV&YA) Reviewers and Rapporteurs for 22nd International
Voluntary counselling and rapid HIV testing points (VCT) on the premises of public organizations were opened in three
Through the Scholarship Programme, the conference organizers commit to make the AIDS 2018 conference accessible to people from resource-limited settings, researchers, young people, key and vulnerable populations and community representatives. The Scholarship Programme is open to everyone around the world working or volunteering in the field of HIV and AIDS who is at least 16 years of age at the time of the conference. This programme provides financial assistance to help people who would otherwise be unable to benefit from the conference.
Stop TB Partnership Secretariat engaged with essential partners to support their efforts and country TB programmes to advance in the fight to end TB in the European Region to prepare the ground for the UN High Level Meeting for TB in 2018. In just one week, three regional meetings held in Astana, Kazakhstan, in Tallinn, Estonia and Minsk, Belarus put TB in the spotlight in a region that can lead the way towards a world free of TB. The discussions were centered around migration and migrants and their access to services, how to sustain and expand programmes after donor support ends and how communities, civil society, and networks of people affected by TB can work together.
