At the 16th FINA World Championships in aquatics, visitors, athletes and volunteers are learning more about HIV. The event, being held from 24 July to 9 August in Kazan, Russia, is promoting Dive safely!, an initiative to raise awareness about HIV and encourage people to learn their HIV status.
Located in the Dive safely! pavilion in the FINA Water World park, the initiative provides HIV prevention materials and offers free, confidential HIV tests to its visitors during the two week championship.
Opening the pavilion, the President of FINA, Dr Julio Maglioni said, "It is an unexpected gift for me to be here today. The AIDS response is very important for the health of our world. It is very important now to unite in order to stop this disease in the name of sport.”
Alexander Zhukov, President of the Russian Olympic Committee, invited all young people at the FINA World Championship to visit the Dive safely! pavilion and take an HIV test. “Every young person should know about HIV and know their status," said Mr Zhukov.
Alexander Zhukov confirmed that the Russian Olympic Committee will soon increase its cooperation on HIV prevention through a new agreement with UNAIDS, and will expand its HIV prevention projects during upcoming international sporting events in Russia, such as the World Football Championship in 2018.
A social media campaign for the FINA World Championships led by the UNAIDS Regional Youth Red Ribbon Team—a group of young celebrities from Eastern Europe and Central Asia—was launched on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, encouraging people to learn about HIV and to post photos and messages with the hashtag #divesafely.
Since the pavilion was opened, more than 500 people have visited every day, with more than 200 people being tested onsite each day for HIV. The tests are carried out by doctors from the Republican AIDS Center of Tatarstan and any positive results are referred to the AIDS Center in Kazan.
Dilyara Vagapova, spokesperson for the #divesafely campaign, called on people to know their HIV status. "Together we can end AIDS in our countries. To be fashionable means to know your HIV status!"
Dive safely! (Легкой воды! in Russian) is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Executive Directorate for Sports Projects, the local non-governmental organization New Century (“Novyi Vek”), the Tatarstan Republican AIDS Centre and UNAIDS.
