Plea to UN General Assembly

HIV/AIDS Consortium Sends Urgent Plea to UN General Assembly

Date: 18.09.09

During the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly that is currently underway in New York, international leaders have repeatedly touched on the issue of HIV/AIDS and reiterated the global community’s commitment to tackling the pandemic. At the same time, programmes for HIV prevention among vulnerable groups are closing down across 10 regions of the Russian Federation, which together account for 20% of the country’s population.

This situation is a direct result of the end of the GLOBUS Project, the first major initiative by civil society in Russia, which was supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Over its five years of operation, this project met all its objectives, received consistently positive evaluations from the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) and garnered international recognition as one of the Global Fund’s most successful projects. Although the Russian authorities have repeatedly pledged to sustain and support NGO programmes that were initiated under GLOBUS, these promises have not translated into action.

A recent letter from the Deputy Minister of Health and Social Development Veronika Skvortsova, which was written in response to an appeal from 200 NGOs to continue GLOBUS activities for vulnerable groups, has not allayed concerns about the future of HIV prevention in Russia. While underlining the state’s success in increasing access to anti-retroviral treatment and prevention of mother-to-child transmission, the letter states that the priority is now to promote health awareness and healthy lifestyles among the general population.

There can be no doubt that increased provision of life-saving treatments and wider access to prevention methods are important achievements in the HIV response, and every step forward should be applauded. The need for promotion of healthy lifestyles in Russia is also evident. However, if the role of the state is limited only to these activities, the major driving force behind the growth of the HIV epidemic will remain unaddressed: at present, over 50% of people registered as living with HIV in Russia are injecting drug users or belong to other vulnerable groups that often fall outside the scope of the healthcare system. Under these circumstances, an effective HIV response is impossible without the implementation of prevention interventions targeted specifically at hard-to-reach sections of the population, as well as active engagement with NGOs that have specialised experience in working with such groups.

Unfortunately, commitment to HIV prevention for vulnerable populations in Russia has vanished from the real agenda of the international community. Rousing speeches on the international stage about renewed commitment to combating HIV/AIDS do not square with the steady decline in support and funding for the evidence-based interventions that were only just beginning to take effect in Russia.

With this open letter, the Consortium of Non-Governmental Organisations appeals for urgent action to save the dozens of HIV prevention programmes in Russia that are now in the process of closing down, leaving thousands of vulnerable people without vital support. Over the following months, yet more programmes that were financed by the Global Fund are set to close down in their wake. If no action is taken now, a significant amount of progress in the response to HIV/AIDS in Russia will be lost, leading to serious consequences for the epidemiological situation in the country and more human suffering that could have been prevented.

Alexey Bobrik
Head of the GLOBUS Project

Natalia Vasilieva
Director
Open Health Institute

Alena Peryshkina
Director
AIDS Infoshare

Joost van der Meer
Executive Director
AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW)

Evgenia Alexeeva
Director
FOCUS-MEDIA

Michael Gorbachev
General Director
Center for Social Development and Information (PSI/Russia)
Population Services International, Russia

Last update: 09/18/2009 15:01

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