The 2nd European PrEP Summit took place in Warsaw, Poland from October 10-12. More than 200 activists, PrEP users, civil society, academia and doctors have gathered from all over Europe and Central Asia to discuss the current state, challenges and opportunities of PrEP use.
Although pre-exposure prophylaxis, or shortly PrEP, is a very effective method of preventing HIV infections, it´s uptake…
How are politics and life narratives in the fields of HIV/AIDS activism in Europe entangled? – This was not an easy leading question of the EUROPACH Closing Conference “Living Politics: Remembering HIV/AIDS Activism Tomorrow”. AAE, as associated partner of the European research project EUROPACH, participated at its closing conference, which took place in Berlin, Germany on September 12, and 13.…
AIDS Action Europe welcomes the decision of the UN Secretary General to appoint Winnie Byanyima as the new Executive Director of the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
We acknowledge the important milestone decision of appointing the first woman as the leader of UNAIDS, however, we are also concerned regarding the potential strategic priorities of Ms Byanyima and concerns…
As of September 1, 2019, people in Germany from the age of 16 with a substantial HIV risk can get PrEP (Pre-exposure prophylaxis) for free, covered by the statutory health insurance. This is an exciting development in a country, where only two years ago PrEP was still discussed quite controversially not to mention the possibility that PrEP could be covered by health insurance. It took the…
On July 11-12 AAE conducted its Quality Improvement (QI) Workshop on Combination Prevention and Chemsex Interventions. Altogether 13 representatives of 12 member and partner organisations were trained on how to select and use one or more of the tools to improve and measure quality and impact of their interventions and projects that were developed in the Quality Action Joint Action. The…
The training material toolbox curriculum for training Community Health Workers (CHW) working with gay men and other MSM was developed in the frame of the EU-funded ESTICOM project (www.esticom.eu). The project aimed at improving access and the quality of prevention, diagnosis of HIV/AIDS, STI and viral hepatitis and health care services for gay men and other MSM.
The Project became an important…
AIDS Action Europe participated at the Special Session of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB), the governing body of UNAIDS, which usually meets twice a year to overlook the work of the UN Joint Programme on AIDS.The special session of the UNAIDS PCB was called together to follow up on the situation of sexual harassment and abuse of power within the UNAIDS Secretariat. Two agenda points…
AIDS Action Europe participated at the Special Session of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB), the governing body of UNAIDS, which usually meets twice a year to overlook the work of the UN Joint Programme on AIDS.The special session of the UNAIDS PCB was called together to follow up on the situation of sexual harassment and abuse of power within the UNAIDS Secretariat. Two agenda points…
Ukraine has the second largest HIV epidemic in the WHO European region. The country also has a high prevalence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. The region of the armed conflict in the Eastern part of Ukraine (UA) lacks provision of health services. 240.000 people live with HIV (PLHIV) in UA, with an HIV prevalence of 0,9% (ages 15-49)[1]. The number of people who know their HIV status…
Yaroslav Bliakharskyi (Ярослав Бляхарский) about his time on the Steering Committee of AIDS Action Europe (AAE).
Yaroslav, our Steering Committee (SC) member, who represents All-Ukrainian network of people living with HIV/AIDS – 100% LIFE, is leaving our SC next year. In our interview with Yaroslav, he talks about his experience being an AAE Steering Committee member. Furthermore, he stresses…
“One case of harassment, one case of misconduct of power is too many. We are striving to get to zero”
This was the statement of Gunila Carlsson, deputy executive director during the Special Session of UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB)[1]. AIDS Action Europe participated in this meeting because we think that only a strong organization that is willing to counteract any kind of sexual…
The call for the vacancy of UNAIDS Executive Director is now open. Learn more about the details and the competencies required for the position, as well as the process for submitting applications please read the in English and in French.
Deadline for the applications is May 17. Please share this information among your parterns and networks and encourage potential candidates to consider applying…
Just a few days ago, Russian LGBT Network stated again about the arrest and attacks of at least 40 people being LGBT. Since the first anti-gay purge in Chechnya, the network reports, around 150 people out of region were relocated and around 130 people found sanctuary out of Russia.
Today, we like to follow the appeal of Igor Kochetkov (Russian LGBT Network) and ask you to call on global leaders…
PRESS RELEASE
Harm reduction services need sustainable funding mechanisms to improve testing and linkage to care for people who use drugs
Last week, the three-year European Union (EU) Joint Action on HIV and Co-infection Prevention and Harm Reduction (HA-REACT) has come to its end. HA-REACT had 22 partners, representing 18 EU Member States, with additional expertise provided by 14…
This time it was Bucharest, the capital of Romania that hosted the HepHIV Conference 2019. Romania holds the EU presidency in the first half of 2019, and faces challenges in responding to the HIV, TB and viral hepatitis epidemics, in particular when it comes to addressing and including key populations in the response. In this sense, Bucharest was a good choice since the speakers could voice their…
The sole objective of this guideline is to summarize and educate about highly useful concepts for scaling up harm reduction in any country.
Estimates of the prevalence of drug use and its consequences have a major influence on many public policies. Estimating prevalence is especially important for forecasting the health needs and costs of the drug user group and for evaluating the coverage and…
By Jeffrey Lazarus, #HAREACT
We know what works. Opioid substitution therapy in prisons, safe needles in the streets, direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for anyone who’s infected. No, what we need to eliminate hepatitis C isn’t more interventions. What we need is the political will to implement what works.
What we need to eliminate hepatitis C isn’t more interventions. What we need is the…
AIDS Action Europe held the seat of Europe NGO Delegate on the Programme Coordinating Board of UNAIDS from 2016-2018. Our colleague, Ferenc Bagyinszky, represented AAE on the NGO Delegation: “My 3 years with the NGO Delegation was one of the most rewarding and challenging period of my life. It was not only the steepest learning curve in the field of global HIV politics but also gave me an…
The NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB
Calls for the Immediate Release of the Independent Expert Panel’s (IEP) Report
December 6, 2018
At the 42nd UNAIDS Program Coordinating Board (PCB) meeting in June 2018, the PCB agreed to establish an Independent Expert Panel (IEP) to coordinate and complete a comprehensive review/audit on prevention of and response to harassment, including sexual harassment…
Before the Global Fund Replenishment Conference which will take place in October 2019 in France and is aimed to raise new funds to end AIDS, TB and malaria by 2030, AIDES together with other partner organisations launched a petition aimed at heads of states and governments calling to support the Global Fund. You can support the petition via the following link:
https://www.change.org/p/sida-…
This video explains what harm reduction is and how it benefits people who use drugs, as well as their families and communities.
Harm reduction acknowledges that people should not need to stop using drugs to receive help. Research shows that harm reduction decreases the negative effects of drug use without increasing drug injection. That’s why organizations such as the World Health Organization…
AIDS Action Europe Member and Partner Meeting took place on Saturday, October 20, in Berlin. This year the AAE Steering Committee decided to focus on 2 topics of concern for civil society organisations working in the field: good practices and gaps in addressing women in harm reduction and the role of international networks in response to HIV/AIDS, TB and viral hepatitis.
This article will focus…
The 2018 AIDS Action Europe Member and Partner Meeting took place on Saturday, October 20, in Berlin. This year, the AAE Steering Committee decided to focus on 2 topics of concern for civil society organisations working in the field: good practices and gaps in addressing women in harm reduction and the role of international networks in response to HIV/AIDS, TB and viral hepatitis.
This article…
The "Training manual on HIV and HCV rapid testing in low-threshold settings for PWUD" is designed to be a complete tool to provide staff in low-threshold settings the knowledge, skills and techniques needed for testing people who use drugs for HIV and HCV and linking them to needed care.
The content of the manual was adopted from previously developed guidelines, manuals and handbooks and is…
A Call for urgent action in response to rapidly expanding HIV epidemics among gay men, other men who have sex with men and trans people in newer EU member states and enlargement countries
In 2008, civil society organizations from 33 countries in Europe and Central Asia and six European networks signed ‘The Ljubljana Declaration’, warning that HIV remains a most alarming health threat among gay…
AIDS Action Europe’s executive office attended the 22nd International AIDS Conference, which has been a big success for many of us addressing gaps and challenges in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region, which remains as one of the few regions in the world where new HIV cases and AIDS deaths continue to grow rapidly. However, 16.000 people from 160 countries came to Amsterdam for the…
The Global Village, an open space and accessible for everyone during the conference, has presented the work of networks, organisations and other community groups of PLHIV and key affected populations from all over the world. This area was dedicated to people who work on the ground at the community level, activists and others. They presented their work and implemented activities on harm reduction…
In the context of the Work Package 5 (WP5) of the EU Joint Action on HIV and Co-Infection Prevention and Harm Reduction (HA-REACT), Finland´s National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) organized a study visit related to harm reduction surveillance on June 18 and 19, 2018, in Helsinki. Lithuanian professionals from the Centre for Communicable Diseases and AIDS (ULAC) and the Centre for…
European Commission presents its Joint Actions at the AIDS International Conference 2018, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The Health Programme satellite symposium will take place on:
Monday, 23 July 2018
14:45 - 16:45, Meeting room: Hall 10
Harm reduction for people who inject drugs in Europe: findings from European Joint Action HA-REACT
17:00 - 19:00, Meeting room: Auditorium
European…
We would like to invite you to join us at the International AIDS Conference 2018, which takes place in Amsterdam on 23-27 July. AIDS Action Europe is involved in various activities and sessions, in the following you can find a short overview where the AAE team can be found:
AIDS Action Europe together with the European AIDS Treatment Group is hosting the Civil Society Forum Booth (number 618)…
