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Eastern Europe is a “perfect storm” for the spread of tuberculosis because it has high rates of incarceration, HIV infection, and injection drug use, and it has disintegrated healthcare systems, suboptimal TB diagnosis and treatment, and poor adherence rates. In addition, nearly half of all TB cases are multidrug-resistant, which requires longer, more expensive treatment than drug-susceptible TB, and leads to more adverse effects. Treatment is also less accessible in the region. And because rates of HIV infection are on the rise in Eastern Europe, where antiretroviral therapy coverage is low, the fast progression of immunosuppression leads to increases in the rate of TB and HIV coinfection.

People living with HIV can now expect to live a near-normal life expectancy, where they have access to effective antiretroviral treatment, monitoring and support. But the positive benefits of treatment can only be realised when adhered to exactly as prescribed – which for HIV, means taking treatment every day, for life. A range of factors can influence a person’s ability to stick to a drug-taking regime, so until a vaccine or a cure is found, new treatment delivery options are needed to ensure all patients can maintain high levels of antiretroviral drug concentration in their body, thereby achieving viral suppression and reducing the risk of HIV drug resistance.      

While the adoption of previous EU drug strategies and action plans has been well covered by the media, now, two years after the great migration crisis and one year after the Brexit vote, almost nobody noticed the adoption of the new EU Action Plan on Drugs. There was no press conference or press release. It seems drug policy is not a priority for decision makers these days – there are other topics occupying public attention. It’s a shame, because this is the most progressive drug policy document the EU has ever adopted. It is most needed, at a time when European drug markets have been undergoing cataclysmic changes, with the emergence of new drugs and new risks which require new responses and interventions. 

Is Kazakhstan prepared for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)? Master student majoring in International Public Health at VU University in Amsterdam Marieke Bak was finding the answer to this question during her recent internship with AFEW International. For this reason, she spent five months in Almaty, Kazakhstan, doing her research.

The general global trend of reducing grant support and the rise of Kyrgyzstan in the qualification of the World Bank from the level of countries with low income to the level of countries with lower middle income encourages the transition of the country to national funding. It is a difficult process for the state, because from the very beginning the prevention programmes in the country (about 15 years) were funded by international donors.

Approximately five thousand citizens of Tajikistan, which were found to be infected with HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis during their stay in the territory of the Russian Federation, were declared personae non gratae for lifetime by the government of Russia in June this year. How could this expulsion of infected fellow citizens affect the Republic of Tajikistan?

Last year a major event in the field of HIV in Russia became the adoption of the National strategies of counteraction with the spread of HIV-infection in the Russian Federation until 2020. One of the key objectives of the Strategy was the consolidation of efforts of governmental and nonprofit organizations in their fight against the epidemic. Today we discuss the implementation of this interaction in the most progressive city of Russia with the Deputy chief physician of St. Petersburg Center for prevention and control of AIDS and infectious diseases, holder of Doctoral degree in Medicine, third-generation doctor Tatiana Vinogradova.

Psychologists, social workers, medical personnel and other employees of four social bureaus in Ukraine gathered for the three-day training Conducting Voluntary Counselling and Testing on HIV with Rapid Tests that AFEW-Ukraine conducted on June 7-9. The training was held within the framework of the project ‘Bridging the Gaps: Health and Rights for Key Populations’ with the financial support of Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.