Dr.Peter Piot at EECAAC

Moscow, 6 May 2008 – The second Eastern Europe and Central Asia AIDS Conference came to a close today at Moscow’s World Trade Center. The largest regional forum to date brought together 2,065 participants from 53 countries representing governmental organizations, NGOs, the scientific and business communities, and people living with HIV. The range and depth of topics discussed during the conference demonstrated the significant positive developments made across the region..

“A number of programs are in place in this region – and they are working. There is an abundance of knowledge, skills, infrastructure and even resources. But there are two more vital ingredients, tolerance and compassion – tolerance towards people with different lifestyles and compassion for people who live with HIV. It would be a tragedy if, after coming so far and achieving so much, this proved one challenge too many,” said Dr. Peter Piot, UNAIDS Executive Director.

Sessions and seminars that sought to address the main features of the HIV epidemic in the region, including the role of intravenous drug use in the transmission of HIV, the prevalence of HIV-TB and HIV-viral hepatitis co-infections, and the rapid growth of the number of people needing anti-retroviral therapy. Additionally, participants explored the changing nature of the epidemic as it increasingly affects females and people under 30.

In addition to technical and scientific sessions, participants also engaged in the informal sharing of ideas and viewpoints at conference-hosted spaces like Besedka, an open forum dedicated to exploring pertinent issues related to the epidemic. Also, the work of the “Youth Village” attracted significant attention and more than 300 participants aged under 30 took part in the activities offered. Their efforts resulted in a resolution laying out concrete steps responding to current issues.

The participants also noted the positive tendencies and opening of new opportunities in effectively fighting the HIV epidemic in the region. Among them are increased funding and economic growth, political support from governments, the growing role of civil society organizations, and the active_en involvement of affected communities.

“Two years ago, HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia was a crisis. People at NGO’s had passion and despair – now they have real experience helping drug users, sex workers, men who have sex with men, and other people at risk. Governments are more aware and committed to the fight, and they are treating more people living with HIV. I am really hopeful this region will achieve universal access by 2010. If everyone works together, it will happen,” remarked Dr. Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, at the close of the conference.

Even though the conference demonstrated tremendous improvements in fighting HIV in the region, there are still unresolved issues. In a number of countries, the implementation of certain initiatives is hampered by national legislation or by widespread misunderstanding of the epidemic. HIV is a complex issue that demands an integrated social response, yet inter-sectoral cooperation between educational, cultural, media and other institutions remains low. Prominent issues such as HIV-related stigma and discrimination, low levels of awareness of the epidemic, a general deficit in medical and social human resources, and insufficient funding remain to be addressed effectively.

“This conference has demonstrated how powerful a force in change the partnership between governments, communities of people living with and at risk of HIV, and researchers and health care professionals can be,” mentioned Craig McClure, Executive Director of the International Aids Society. “There has been lively discussion of the progress that has bee made and the challenges that remain in fighting HIV. I hope that those discussions will result in real change in the countries across the region, including increased protection of human rights, access to treatment and access to all the tools that we have to prevent HIV infections.”

During the conference the significant progress of the Russian Federation in scaling up measures against HIV was stressed. “In the three-year budget of 2008-2010, around 30 billion rubles are allocated for solving the HIV epidemic,” said Minister of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation, Tatyana Golikova during the closing ceremony. She also mentioned that the response to AIDS will require the joint effort of governmental and civil society organizations, and that HIV/AIDS prevention programs that have been implemented by Russian NGOs will not be suspended and will receive adequate support from government resources.

Closing the Second Eastern Europe and Central Asia AIDS Conference, Head of the Federal Service of Protection of Consumer Rights and Human Wellbeing in Russia, Gennadiy G. Onishchenko stated that “The conference has once again proven that the existence of a regional Russian-language forum on HIV – allowing researchers, politicians, health professionals and representatives of civil society to develop universal approaches towards responses to AIDS – is vitally important and represents the crucial part of effective joint actions of national health care in our countries.”

The results of the second Eastern Europe and Central Asia Aids Conference will be discussed in other significant international forums taking place in 2008, including high-level UN board meetings in June and the 17th International AIDS Conference to be held in Mexico in August.

For more information, please visit www.eecaac.org.

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