On 15-17 March 2016, Alliance for Public Health for the first time conducted a large-scale working meeting with the heads of 78 civil society organizations (CSOs) implementing harm reduction projects in Ukraine aimed at the prevention of HIV, hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis among people who inject drugs (PWID), commercial sex workers (CSW) and men who have sex with men (MSM).
The meeting included analysis of 2015 activities, discussion of the ways to improve the efforts of assisted testing, early detection of tuberculosis, operation of mobile clinics, aspects of internal monitoring of project activities, etc. The participants discussed the problems they face when building partnerships with health care facilities as well as challenges related to the health care reform.
Project Managers – Larisa Melanich (New Family CF), Olena Romanets (Avante CF), Oleksandr Solianik (Light of Hope CF), and Yulia Adirkhayeva (Vertikal CF) – shared their experience in project activities and best practices implemented in their organizations.
Besides, Alliance presented the preliminary results of 2015 bio-behavioral studies among PWID and CSW. Project managers were recommended to optimize operation of service delivery sites taking into account the results presented.
Considering creation of new police units in the regions of Ukraine, the session concerning peculiarities of interaction with territorial units of the national police and the necessity to train policemen in the regions in the basics of harm reduction was very timely.
The participants were informed about the urgent issues in implementing substitution maintenance treatment, scale up of treatment of viral hepatitis C, specifics of PIMA program implementation, Global Fund Speak Out! anti-corruption campaign, Alliance training agenda for 2016-2017, procedure of preparing and printing awareness-raising materials, planned Alliance publications, and implementation of gender-sensitive services.
Besides, to settle problematic issues related to the procurement of commodities in the conditions of military conflict in Eastern Ukraine, a separate meeting was held among program and finance officers of Alliance, procurement expert from the Network and the heads of those projects which operate on the temporarily uncontrolled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. The session resulted in finding optimal solutions to continue procurement activities within the projects.
The meeting allowed heads of the projects to get answers to vital program and finance questions, share their knowledge and experience.