AIDS Action Europe
AIDS Action Europe is a partnership of HIV/AIDS NGOs set up to advocate for greater commitment and cohesion in the global response to HIV, contribute to European policy-making on HIV/AIDS and facilitate the transfer of experiences proven as effective across the wide European region (comprising 52 countries, as defined by WHO).
Considering the recent catastrophic explosion of HIV affecting several Eastern European countries and the imminent enlargement of the European Union, this action plan proposes strategic steps to be taken by AIDS Action Europe towards (1) encouraging European and international institutions to urgently strengthen their responses to the HIV epidemic in the region (2) promoting the essential role of local non-governmental actors in preventing HIV, providing support and defending the rights of People Living with HIV/AIDS, improving healthcare practices and holding governments accountable.
www.aidsactioneurope.org
Positive prevention
prevention activities aimed at people living with HIV/AIDS - Positive Prevention - has become one of the priorities in the Action Plan on the Rise of the Epidemic in Western Europe. Positive prevention and sexual health is targeted at policy and activities that focus on the needs of HIV-positive people keeping themselves healthy in an enabling society. This needs to be done, with recognition of the diversity of different groups positive people. And – naturally – this needs to be developed including and involving different groups of people living with HIV.
In order to develop Positive prevention and Sexual health the workshop concluded it is needed that:
- The underlying principles should be formulated & implemented
- Evidence & experience driven actions should be implemented
- Stimulate support of Self support groups & NGO's
- Disseminate information & access to help lines
AIDS Action Europe (the Pan European NGO Partnership on HIV and AIDS) and STI AIDS Netherlands take the initiative to organise a workshop on this issue in November 2005. This meeting is intended for professionals working on, or planning to work on positive prevention in Western Europe. The main focus is on NGOs, but best practises can also come from other areas such as science or health care. They should focus on different groups for whom positive prevention is relevant: gay men, heterosexuals, IV-drug users and people coming from countries that are affected most by the epidemic. The primary region is Western Europe, which will not be defined very strict. The idea is to attract people from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, the Netherlands.
The ASA project
A Step Ahead towards health and social care for sex workers in Serbia Project time: 1 June 2008- 31st May 2011
Funded by the ministry of foreign affairs, MATRA programme
The Power of Prevention (POP) project from 2004 till 2007 created the right climate to continue with activities in this region. The Power of prevention project made it possible to continue with new intervention strategies for the sex workers in Serbia. During the POP project over hundred medical staff have been trained to be sex worker friendly and during the ASA project these staff members will be part of the project again.
Some of the key problems Serbia is still facing are; despite the fact that sex workers are recognized in certain documents related to health policy, as a vulnerable group with its defined needs in the domain of care, there are only slight improvements in satisfying those needs. Criminalisation according to valid laws, high degree of social stigmatisation, discrimination within any system – make their position utterly regrettable. The official response to the problem is inadequate. Certain forms of sex work, such as indoor services, are completely out of bounds for any kind of prevention activities. And all activities for sex workers are concentrated predominantly in Belgrade.
During the ASA project a drop-in centre for sex workers will be realised. In this drop in centre, an integral approach in providing health and social care at local level will be secured. Also an organised and functional form of inter-institutional co-operation is being developed and implemented between the health and social sector.
Outreach workers will retain their role as “bridges” between official services and sex workers, and will expand their work to other areas. They will also mobilize outreach workers in Novi Pazar, in the latter part of the project.
One of the overall objectives of the project is to put health and social protection for sex workers at the agenda for change and to reform social and health care systems.
For more information on the project please contact:
Mrs Marieke Ridder-Wiskerke
Programme manager sex work projects
mridder@soaaids.nl
