IN 2017, 95% OF NEW INFECTIONS IN EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA WERE AMONG KEY POPULATIONS (VERSUS 47% GLOBALLY). HALF OF THESE WERE AMONG PEOPLE WHO INJECT DRUGS.
People who inject drugs are consistently driven underground due to stigma and discrimination reflected in harmful laws, policies and practices. This initiative will reach those who inject drugs and those affected by injecting drug use:
1. Building partnerships between law enforcement, public health sector, civil society and community organizations
2. Increasing access to HIV prevention and treatment (including opioid substitution therapy)
3. Reducing stigma and discrimination
4. Protecting the human rights of people who inject drugs
Led by UNODC expertise, specific outreach will cover these countries: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Staying Free
In 2017, 95% of new infections in eastern Europe and central Asia were among key populations1 (globally it is 47%). Half of these were among people who inject drugs (PWID). The HIV epidemic in this region is concentrated among people who inject drugs largely due to lack of access to evidence-based HIV harm reduction services, especially opioid substitution therapy (OST) and needle and syringe programmes (NSP).
People who inject drugs are consistently driven underground due to stigma and discrimination. Advocacy is also compromised due to harmful laws, policies and practices.
Strategies to reduce HIV transmission that disproportionately affects key populations include improving availability, accessibility, coverage and quality of human rights-based HIV prevention.
Specific outreach will include advocacy actions, technical assistance and partnership-building in these seven countries: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
Please click on the image below to download a pdf with more details.
For more information about this opportunity or others, please contact partner@unaids.org.