On 26-27 of March, partners’ meeting dedicated to the launch of a three-year multi-country project “Sustainability of Services for Key Populations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia” funded by The Global Fund, will be held in Kyiv. The meeting will bring together participants from 24 countries.

As a result of the project, by 2021, national funding for HIV/AIDS programs will be increased by $10 million from national, regional and municipal budgets in the countries of the EECA region. It is also planned to ensure $73.4 million savings in the countries budgets through optimised ARV procurement.

The implementation of the three-year project will be coordinated by the Alliance for Public Health, in a consortium with the 100% Life (All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH), the Central Asian HIV’ Association and the Eurasian Key Populations Health Network, with the participation of national governmental and non-governmental organizations, regional key populations networks , international agencies and organizations, as well as technical partners.
Andriy Klepikov, Executive Director Alliance for Public Health:

“Eastern Europe and Central Asia is the only region in the world where HIV epidemic continues to grow. Our new project has an ambitious goal – to break this trend. It will become possible thanks to a variety of innovative and effective interventions, and most importantly – ensuring the sustainability of services for the most vulnerable to HIV groups, thanks to increased funding from national budgets. In addition to the work on the national level, we focus on the 23 cities with the highest burden of HIV. The success of the strategy that we have chosen has already been demonstrated in Fast-Track CITIes project, implemented by the Alliance in EECA region. The next three years will require tremendous efforts from the whole team, as there has not yet been a project of such an unprecedented scale, goals and level of partnership in the EECA region. And we gladly accept this challenge! ”

 

 

The regional project will focus on ensuring the sustainability of services for key populations in 14 countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and also Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia.

 

Dmitry Sherembey, Chairman of the Coordination Council of CO “Network 100% of Life”

“We are confident that our expertise in working with key populations, building viable health care systems, expanding access to treatment will be useful for the entire regional project. The experience “100% of Life” has gained in previous years is invaluable and will significantly improve the situation in the region. Working with key populations, we acquired the skills necessary to build active and effective communities that are ready to represent and defend their own interests, even after international donors will have left the region”.

 

Dumitru Laticevschi, Regional Manager of Eastern Europe and Central Asia Team, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria:

 «We view the Regional Grant as a significant catalytic addition to the programmes supported by the Global Fund in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Its powerful design is the outcome of a robust collaborative development process and we count on measurable improvements in both areas of sustainability – a) reducing burden of HIV and b) more domestic funding for more efficient interventions to  maintain the gains in the fight against HIV in the future”.

 

 

Vinay P. Saldanha, Director, Regional Support Team, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, UNAIDS:

“Ensuring access to HIV services for key populations is the most important task, by solving which, we can confidently move towards our main goal – to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. In this regard, the Global Fund project is of utmost importance. We are pleased to join the project Steering Committee and work together with a consortium of organizations led by such experienced and strong partners as the Alliance for Public Health and the 100% of Life Network (All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV). UNAIDS is ready to provide full support to the project, primarily in the field of advocacy at the highest national and international level”.The three-year project “Sustainability of Services for Key Populations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia” aims to improve the financial sustainability and effectiveness of HIV programs, reduce existing legal barriers and protect the most important human rights for access to HIV prevention and care, improve the efficiency and accessibility of HIV services delivery models (HIV care cascade) for key populations.

 

On March 26, a video of the Meeting opening and the project presentation will be published on the Facebook page of the Alliance for Public Health. Join us online!

Text: Inna Gavrylova