Health Technical Elements
HIV/AIDS
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| Click image above to download the PDF version of the HIV/AIDS Fact Sheet |
Overview
Eastern Europe and Eurasia (E&E) is currently experiencing one of the fastest-growing HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world; over 1.5 million people in the region are living with HIV, a 20-fold increase in less than a decade. Unlike other regions of the world, HIV in E&E is predominantly transmitted through injecting drug use, which accounts for 62% of new HIV cases in the region.
USAID’s Response
USAID programming in the region primarily focuses on reaching high risk populations by providing assistance to local governments and organizations to improve access to effective and high-quality services. Programming includes prevention of sexual and biomedical transmission, care for those affected and infected including orphans and vulnerable children, treatment, and policy work to encourage high-level political commitment and to address stigma and discrimination. Assistance is also provided to support Global Fund applications and E&E USAID Programs are funded through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Additional Information and Resources
Important HIV/AIDS Issues in Europe and Eurasia
- In the E&E region, the Russian Federation and Ukraine make up almost 90% of all newly reported HIV cases and Ukraine has the highest prevalence rate in Europe.
- Approximately one-quarter of the world’s total injecting drug users reside in E&E. Alarmingly, heroin use is four times greater in E&E than the global average (AVERT, 2008).
- Sexual transmission of HIV is increasing throughout the region, accounting for 41% of newly diagnosed cases of HIV in Russia and Ukraine in 2005 (EuroHIV, 2006a).
- HIV is a youthful epidemic in E&E. An average of one-third reported HIV positive infections occur among 15 to 24 year olds. In Russia, 15 to 24 year olds make up 80% of HIV cases (UNAIDS, 2006).
- In Georgia, the median age of first injecting drug exposure is decreasing, falling from 18.5 years old in 2002 to 15 years old in 2006. Injecting drug use accounts for 67% of all HIV infections in Georgia (Georgian National Institute of Drug Addiction with SHIP)
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| Figure 2. An AIDS campaign in Ukraine |
Examples of USAID HIV/AIDS Programs
- The Healthy Russia 2020 program addresses HIV prevention and care among substance abusers by promoting modern concepts of counseling, treatment, case management and social support; training health care workers to provide pre- and post-test counseling for HIV/AIDS; and teaching HIV prevention among vulnerable youth.
Implementer: Johns Hopkins University
- USAID is supporting interventions in Ukraine to reduce educates young people on HIV/AIDS
stigma and discrimination around HIV/AIDS. These interventions include advocacy for legal reforms that protect the rights of those affected by the disease, a communications campaign, and the establishment of an extensive network of peer educators who generate support and public acceptance for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Implementer: International Relief and Development, Inc. (IRD)
- The Drug Abuse Prevention Program in Georgia empowers youth to identify risky behaviors and reject illicit drug use through a national, age-appropriate drug abuse prevention media campaign.
Implementer: IOCC
USAID HIV/AIDS Success Stories
- Through USAID-supported programs in Georgia, use of shared injecting drug equipment was reported to decrease from 79% (2002) to below 43% (2005) and increased condom use among commercial sex workers from 86.7% (2002) to 94.4% (2005) at the program locations.
- In Crimea, Ukraine, USAID-funded programs worked to decrease discrimination towards HIV positive mothers by allowing equal access to hospital services, allowing families to visit HIV-positive women, and removal of physical barriers between HIV positive and negative pregnant women and new mothers.
- The mother-to-child HIV transmission rate has been cut in half in Ukraine due in part to USAID supported HIV/AIDS programs that directly provided HIV counseling and testing to over 500,000 pregnant women.
HIV/AIDS Resources, Websites and Links
PUBLICATIONS
Strengthening Health Systems to Improve HIV/AIDS Programs in the Europe and Eurasia Region using Global Fund Resources (Adobe Acrobat PDF), January 2006
Practical Steps to Strengthening HIV/AIDS Surveillance in the Europe and Eurasia Region: A Field Guide (Adobe Acrobat PDF), January 2005
Center for Strategic and International Studies: The Second Wave of the HIV/AIDS Pandemic: China, India, Russia, Ethiopia, Nigeria. A Conference Report of the CSIS Task Force on HIV/AIDS, 2002.
Gender Mainstreaming in Practice: A Toolkit. Commissioned by the United Nations Development Program’s Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS (UNDP RBEC). Section on HIV and gender in E&E in section II, page 249.
WEBSITES
The Global Fund
UNAIDS Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS - Eastern Europe and Central Asia
USAID HIV/AIDS Program
The United States President’s Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief. Countries in Europe.
WHO HIV/AIDS
WHO Regional Office for Europe. HIV/AIDS information and policy information for WHO’s Europe region.
European Centre for the Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS: WHO and UNAIDS Collaborating Center
AVERT. AVERT is an international HIV and AIDS charity based in the UK.
Overview for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Statistics for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia
United Nations Development Program (UNDP). HIV/AIDS information for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
HIV InSite. Information on HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and policy from the University of California San Francisco. Includes information and a compilation of links to other sources.
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