By Liza Kolomiiets
The HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region - that’s what you often hear when people are talking about AIDS2018 conference. Why is it so often mentioned? What does it have to do with the AIDS2018 conference in Amsterdam?
The reason why the EECA region is important for the conference is because this region is the only region in the world where both new HIV cases and AIDS-related deaths are rising dramatically.
Let's look at it from a historical perspective. The AIDS epidemic in the EECA region started later than in the rest of the world. Its existence was even denied for a long time until it reached quite a large amount of people. According to UNAIDS’ estimates, there are over 1.6 million people living with HIV in the region and this figure is increasing every year with almost 10%.
Despite the fact that all countries have national HIV prevention and treatment programs, the response is still not adequate: around 2/3 of people know that they are HIV positive yet only around 30% of people living with HIV have access to treatment.
The 180 000+ new HIV infection annually are the result of ineffective prevention, including sexual and reproductive education, HIV related information for the general population, and prevention among key populations.
A high level of stigma and discrimination of people affected by the epidemic remains the main barrier for people to get HIV- related services. This, however, does not mean that things are not moving or changing. Big and small, non-governmental and governmental, old and new organizations worldwide and in EECA area especially are collaborating in order to achieve change. Many of them, like AFEW and Teenergizer are working together with the Amsterdam Youth Force to create a special platform for the youth during the AIDS2018 conference in order to bring new ideas, energy and commitment to the AIDS response.
Due to the alarming increase of new HIV infections, we would like to give special attention to young people from EECA area, who are standing up in order to raise their voices to fight for their rights to healthcare.