Events

The United Republic of Tanzania has approved a change to the law that lowers the age of consent for HIV testing from 18 years to 15 years. The amendment to legislation also makes self-testing for HIV legal, also from the age of 15 years.

“These amendments will significantly accelerate our intention to meet the 90–90–90 goals, which aim at ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030,” said Ummy Mwalimu, Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children. The ministry was instrumental in tabling the amendments to the legislation.

The 90–90–90 targets are ambitious treatment targets to help end the AIDS epidemic. They aim to ensure that, by 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status, 90% of all people who know their HIV status will be on antiretroviral therapy and 90% of all people on antiretroviral therapy will be virally suppressed.

The changes to the law will contribute to improved access to HIV testing for adults aged 15 years and over.

At the end of 2018, the progress on the 90–90–90 targets in the United Republic of Tanzania was 78–92–87. In 2018, there were 72 000 new HIV infections in the country. While this is a 13% reduction from 2010, it is below the 28% reduction across eastern and southern Africa. 

“I congratulate the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania on its leadership and high-level political commitment to the AIDS response. UNAIDS will continue to work hand-in-hand with all our partners to ensure that access to HIV testing and treatment continues to expand,” said Leo Zekeng, UNAIDS Country Director in the United Republic of Tanzania.

Game-changing approaches, such as medicine to prevent HIV (PrEP), integration of contraceptive services with HIV testing, viral load suppression (U = U), harm reduction, and comprehensive sexuality education, give people the power to protect themselves from HIV and, for people living with HIV, the power to thrive

NAIROBI/GENEVA, 26 November 2019—A new report by UNAIDS, Power to the people, released ahead of World AIDS Day, shows that where people and communities living with and affected by HIV are engaged in decision-making and HIV service delivery, new infections decline and more people living with HIV gain access to treatment. When people have the power to choose, to know, to thrive, to demand and to work together, lives are saved, injustices are prevented and dignity is restored.

“When people and communities have power and agency, change happens,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “The solidarity of women, young people, gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who use drugs and transgender people has transformed the AIDS epidemic—empowering them will end the epidemic.”

The report was launched in Kenya on 26 November by the Executive Director of UNAIDS, the Cabinet Secretary of Health of Kenya and community representatives. It shows that significant progress has been made, particularly in expanding access to treatment. As of mid-2019, an estimated 24.5 million of the 37.9 million people living with HIV were accessing treatment. As treatment roll-out continues, fewer people are dying of AIDS-related illnesses.

“The partnership between government and civil society, together with the meaningful involvement of communities, has allowed us to significantly reduce new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths,” said Sicily Kariuki, Cabinet Secretary for Health in Kenya. “Communities are the very centre of the AIDS response and are critical to ending AIDS.”

Progress in reducing HIV infections, however, is mixed and 1.7 million people were newly infected with the virus in 2018. New HIV infections declined by 28% from 2010 to 2018 in eastern and southern Africa, the region most affected by HIV. In a promising sign, the incidence rate of HIV among adolescent girls and young women aged between 15 and 24 years in the region declined from 0.8% in 2010 to 0.5% in 2018, a 42% decline. However, young women and girls still bear the brunt of new HIV infections—four out of five new HIV infections among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa are among girls.

Outside of eastern and southern Africa, new HIV infections have declined by only 4% since 2010. Of increasing concern is the rise of new HIV infections in some regions. The annual number of new HIV infections rose by 29% in eastern Europe and central Asia, by 10% in the Middle East and North Africa and by 7% in Latin America.

“In many parts of the world, significant progress has been made in reducing new HIV infections, reducing AIDS-related deaths and reducing discrimination, especially in eastern and southern Africa, but gender inequality and denial of human rights are leaving many people behind,” said Ms Byanyima. “Social injustices, inequality, denial of citizenship rights and stigma and discrimination are holding back progress against HIV and the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Power together

The report shows that when people and communities have power and agency, change happens. Communities have put rights-based, people-centred principles at the heart of HIV programmes, ensuring that AIDS responses tackle the inequalities and injustices that fuel the epidemic.

Women and girls are the backbone of care support in their families and communities, providing unpaid and often undervalued work in caring for children, the sick, the elderly and the disabled and underpinning fragile social support systems. This must change. The involvement and leadership of communities of women is vital in the response to HIV.

“As a community leader, I am able to relate to people and understand their background better than someone from the outside. I have been living openly with HIV for 25 years, so people come to me with their issues, such as HIV-related stigma, disclosure and adherence. I have never stepped back from this role as I am part of this community,” said Josephine Wanjiru, an HIV community activist Kiandutu, Thika, Kenya.

The power to choose

Women and girls are demanding integrated contraception and HIV and sexually transmitted infection testing, prevention and care options. Almost 40% of adult women and 60% of adolescent girls (aged 15–19 years) in sub-Saharan Africa have unmet needs for modern contraception.

In several countries in sub-Saharan Africa, young women’s uptake of medicine to prevent HIV—pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)—has been shown to be high in projects that integrate PrEP into youth-friendly health services and family planning clinics and when provision of PrEP is separated from treatment services.

Eleven million voluntary medical male circumcisions to prevent HIV have been performed since 2016, 4 million in 2018 alone in the 15 priority countries.

The power to know

The power to know allows people to keep themselves free from HIV or, if living with the virus, keep healthy. However, people are finding out their HIV status too late, sometimes years after they became infected, leading to a delay in starting treatment and facilitating HIV transmission. In Mozambique, for example, the average time for diagnosis after infection for men was four years.

Adherence to effective treatment suppresses the virus to undetectable levels, keeping people healthy and preventing transmission of the virus. Knowing this allows people living with HIV the opportunity to lead normal lives, confident that they are protecting their loved ones, and confronting stigma and discrimination.

HIV self-testing is now helping more people to find out their HIV status in privacy, breaking the barriers of stigma and discrimination and facilitating linkage to treatment.

Knowledge of HIV among young people is alarmingly low in many regions. In countries with recently available survey data, just 23% of young women (aged 15–24 years) and 29% of young men (aged 15–24 years) have comprehensive and correct knowledge of HIV. Studies show that comprehensive sexuality education does not lead to increased sexual activity, sexual risk-taking or higher infection rates for HIV or other sexually transmitted infections.

The power to thrive

The power to thrive is ensuring that people have the right to health, education, work and a standard of living adequate for health and well-being.

New HIV infections among children have declined by 41% since 2010 and nearly 82% of pregnant women living with HIV are on antiretroviral therapy. However, thousands of children are falling between the cracks. Half of all children born with HIV who are not diagnosed early will die before their second birthday, but, globally, only 59% of HIV-exposed children were tested before two months of age.

In 2018, 160 000 children (aged 0–14 years) became newly infected with HIV, and 100 000 children died from an AIDS-related illness. They died either because they weren’t diagnosed, or because of a lack of treatment—a shocking indictment of how children are being left behind.

Gender inequalities, patriarchal norms and practices, violence, discrimination, other rights violations and limited access to sexual and reproductive health services exacerbate the risk of HIV infection among adolescent girls and young women, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Each week, an estimated 6000 young women (aged 15–24 years) are infected with HIV.  

In Eswatini, a recent study showed that adolescent girls and young women who experienced gender-based violence were 1.6 times more likely to acquire HIV than those who did not. The same study also showed that the economic empowerment of women and girls helped in reducing new HIV infections among women by more than 25% and increased the probability of young women and girls going back to school and finishing their education.

Key populations are being left behind

Key populations and their partners account for at least 75% of new HIV infections outside of sub-Saharan Africa and are less likely to be on treatment than others. More than one third of key populations do not know their HIV status. Community-led support among gay men and other men who have sex with men is effective in increasing the uptake of PrEP, promoting safer sex, increasing HIV testing rates and supporting treatment adherence.

Transgender people are subjected to discrimination in every sphere of life, including education and employment—only 10% work in the formal economy. But community activism has led to long overdue attention to the rights and realities of transgender people.

Community empowerment activities among sex workers have been shown to increase the odds of condom use with clients by three times and reduce the odds of HIV infection by more than 30%.

The power to demand

The power to demand gives communities and individuals the power to participate in the decisions that affect them. There have been reports of crackdowns, restrictions and even attacks on groups and campaigns supporting key populations. Some governments refuse to recognize, support or engage community organizations in their national responses to HIV and are subsequently missing out on their enormous potential to reach the people most affected by HIV.

People and communities will end AIDS

The work of community-led organizations is unique and powerful and can have a substantial impact on how the world fairs towards ending AIDS. UNAIDS urges all countries to fully support and enable their community-led organizations, ensure they have a seat at all decision-making tables concerning the health and well-being of their community members and remove any barriers to their active engagement in the response to HIV. Only by fully funding and fully supporting the work of community organizations will the end of AIDS become a reality.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

1 December 2019

I believe in communities.

Communities make change happen.

Communities are the best hope for ending AIDS because communities have fought against HIV right from the beginning!

As the epidemic raged through our countries, cities, villages, women held communities together and bore the higher burden of care for their families.

For far too long we have taken their volunteerism for granted.

In the face of adversity, communities of gay men, sex workers and people who use drugs have organized themselves to claim their right to health as equal citizens. 

So, we know that communities have proved their worth. There is no debate there.

Without communities, 24 million people would not be on treatment today. Without communities led by women living with and affected by HIV, we would not be close to ending new HIV infections among children, raising orphans and caring for the sick. 

Twenty-five years ago, a Burundi woman called Jeanne was the first person to disclose that she was living with HIV. Today, Jeanne is holding leaders accountable and fighting for the right to health care.

Pioneers like Jeanne have been joined by younger leaders, like 20-year-old Yana, who was born with HIV in Ukraine. Yana founded Teenergizer, a group bringing together young people across eastern Europe. In a world where power resides with old men, she wants her peers to have a voice and a choice.

Consider Fiacre. He lives in Central African Republic, displaced by conflict along with thousands of others. Fiacre cycles to a clinic, crossing barriers and checkpoints to collect antiretroviral medicines for him and members of a group he belongs to. Without this support, each person would have to make the dangerous journey on their own. Simply amazing.

As you can see, communities make the difference all over the world.

However, the way communities are being taken for granted has to change.

On World AIDS Day, UNAIDS salutes the achievements of activists and communities in the struggle against HIV. We remember and we honour all those whom we have lost along the way. Activists challenged the silence and brought life-saving services to their communities. But the countless contributions by women and many others can never replace the responsibility of governments.

Let me remind you, governments committed to at least 30% of HIV services being community-led. 

They also agreed that 6% of all HIV funding go to community mobilization, promoting human rights and changing harmful laws that act as barriers to ending AIDS.

Let’s be clear, defending human rights and challenging discrimination, criminalization and stigma is risky work today.

So, we call on governments to open a space so that activists can do the work they do best.

With communities in the lead and governments living up to their promises, we will end AIDS.

Winnie Byanyima

Executive Director of UNAIDS

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Fifty years after the Stonewall riots in New York, United States of America―a major milestone in the modern struggle to recognize the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people―more people are benefiting from the rights that the Stonewall protesters campaigned for. The number of people living in countries that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relationships has steadily declined since 1969.

In June 2019, Botswana became the latest country to decriminalize same-sex relationships, but Africa still accounts for about half of the world’s population living in countries with anti-homosexuality laws. In 2018, the proportion of the world’s population that lives in countries that criminalize same-sex sexual relations plummeted from about 40% to 23% following the Indian Supreme Court’s decision that decriminalized all consensual sex among adults. This was the largest annual decline since China decriminalized same-sex sexual relationships in 1997.

Prohibitive laws and policies against key populations increase their vulnerability to HIV. It is therefore vital to ensure the full respect of the human rights of all people, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity, including through repealing laws that prohibit sex between consenting adults in private, enforcing laws to protect people from violence and discrimination and addressing homophobia and transphobia.

Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in at least 67 countries and territories worldwide.

A new website that enables people to identify national laws and policies related to the AIDS response has been launched by UNAIDS.

Covering areas as diverse as a country’s ability to diagnose HIV among young babies, the existence of laws that discriminate against transgender people and whether people are prosecuted for carrying condoms, the Laws and Policies Analytics website aims to give a full overview of a country’s laws and policies related to the HIV response. It also allows to view policy data jointly with other data on the HIV epidemic and response.

“We must better understand legal and policy environments to drive effective responses to the HIV epidemic. This new tool will provide access to data on national laws and policies and allow for joint analysis with data on the epidemic and response, so that we can drive more deeply-informed decision-making,” said Shannon Hader, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Programme.

Under the 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS, countries committed to accelerate efforts to significantly increase the availability of high-quality data on HIV. The information used on the new website was reported since 2017 and most recently in 2019 through the National Commitments and Policy Instrument (NCPI), a part of the Global AIDS Monitoring mechanism through which countries report their progress against the commitments they made in the 2016 Political Declaration.

Data were provided by national authorities, civil society organizations and other nongovernmental partners engaged in the AIDS response. Data on HIV-related laws and policies compiled from other external official documents complement the nationally supplied data. UNAIDS carries out a thorough validation of all policy data included to ensure their accuracy. Data will be updated annually.

The website hosts data from over 140 countries. Users can search by country or region through an interactive map or can select a specific topic.

Through making policy data widely available, UNAIDS seeks to promote transparency and an increased use of policy data in analyses of the HIV epidemic and the response to HIV in countries worldwide.

The Laws and Policies Analytics website can be accessed at lawsandpolicies.unaids.org.

1 December 2018

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first World AIDS Day. Thirty years of activism and solidarity under the banner of World AIDS Day. Thirty years of campaigning for universal access to life-saving services to treat and prevent HIV. But after 30 years, AIDS is still not over. We have miles to go.

World AIDS Day is a day to remember the millions of people who have lost their lives to AIDS-related illnesses, many of whom died because they couldn’t access HIV services, because of stigma, because of discrimination and because of criminalization of key populations.

On this World AIDS Day, UNAIDS is campaigning for people to know their HIV status and their viral load. In 2017, 9.4 million people were simply unaware that they are living with a potentially deadly, but treatable, disease. If people don’t know their HIV status, people who are living with HIV can’t start treatment, and people who are HIV-negative can’t get the knowledge and skills they need to keep that way. If people don’t know their HIV status, they can’t protect themselves, their families, their partners. If people living with HIV don’t know their viral load, they won’t be sure that the treatment is effective, protecting their health and stopping HIV transmission.

Live life positively. Know your HIV status.

Michel Sidibé

Executive Director of UNAIDS

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Thailand is starting to roll out pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention among key higher-risk groups in high burden provinces, scaling up PrEP pilot projects within the national health system. The announcement was made at the satellite session “Breaking barriers and building bridges toward sustainability of the AIDS response in South-East Asia” during the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

At the session, Dr Panumard Yarnwaidsakul, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, said that the country is moving from trials and demonstration projects to policy and practice. PrEP now is a core part of the combination prevention package in the national HIV response in the country. Mr Yarnwaidsakul added that Thailand is also in process of including PrEP provision as part of the benefits package under the country’s universal health coverage.

As with many countries in Asia and the Pacific, Thailand's epidemic is focused among gay men and other men who have sex with men, transgender people and people who use drugs. The representatives of the Thai government acknowledged that PrEP is cost-effective and is an innovative approach for people at substantial risk of HIV infection.

Randomized trials have demonstrated that PrEP can decrease HIV incidence among at-risk populations, including men who have sex with men and sero-discordant couples. It has been shown that offering PrEP can encourage more people at higher risk to attend HIV clinics, undergo HIV testing and access either PrEP or treatment depending on the test result.

In Thailand, the discussion about offering PrEP at scale started in 2010.

The satellite session learned from "The Princess PrEP", a successful key population-led PrEP initiative under the support of Her Royal Highness Princess Soamsawali and PEPFAR/ USAID LINKAGES Thailand project.This effort served as local evidence to support the development of PrEP roll-out, where key population-led health services are a critical component.

As a next step, the Ministry of Public Health aims to train health care workers and key population peer providers to deliver PrEP.

Sitting on center stage, clutching a microphone, Chinmay Modi along with a dozen young people answered questions about HIV during an all-youth panel session at the Amsterdam 2018 AIDS conference.

The 25-year-old born with HIV described his struggle accessing services. "In India, sex is a big taboo. A 16-year-old cannot buy condoms for example and parents need to give consent to be tested for HIV." He said educating children and parents is key. His greatest desire involves pushing for specific youth-focused services.

Dany Stolbunov from Ukraine echoed that sentiment, saying "Nothing for us, without us." He said that in his region stigma and discrimination kept people from even accessing services. He bemoaned the fact that young people in Ukraine have limited information and are not seen as a priority.  

HIV FACTS

In 2017, there were approximately 250 000 new HIV infections and 38 000 AIDS-related deaths among adolescents and 1.8 million adolescents living with HIV globally.

Adolescent girls in sub-Saharan Africa are disproportionately affected by new HIV infections, making up 56% of new HIV infections among adolescents globally.

HIV is a leading cause of death among adolescents (10-19 years).

"We are ready to fight for our rights," he added, explaining that young people have a voice and want to use it.

Bruna Martinez strongly believes that broad sexual education discussing gender, health issues and pleasure would not only limit stigma, it would also make teenagers fear HIV less.

"HIV should not be in a vacuum," she said. "We are a generation that can discuss sex and that's a great thing; so give us the tools that tip things in our favor."

All agreed that teenagers and young people have the most at stake in ending the HIV epidemic. Their demand is clear: go beyond scholarships by empowering us.

Melodi Tamarzians, the Dutch youth ambassador for sexual and reproductive health and rights, said, "Do not tick the youth box by giving us a token position." In her view, to enable young people, adults need to invest in them and give them advisory roles.

AIDS 2018 prided itself on giving a greater space to young people in Amsterdam. Youth and junior investigators made up more than one-third of the submissions presented at the conference, according to the conference organizer, the International AIDS Society (IAS.) In addition, young people got the most scholarships than at any other conference. And the Global Village (a free admission space by the conference area) featured the largest space conceived of and run by young people. It included a snack area, a mini-indoor football field, a safe-space theater area and youth-led activities, and booths such as a radio recording area, a youth against AIDS t-shirt stand and even an exhibit about the vagina.

Ms Martinez volunteered and then worked with the Amsterdam Youth Force that mobilized and organized other young people to make the youth space their own. "At this conference, we showed everybody that we could deliver," she said.

She hopes that this meaningful youth presence will carry over. "It's important that we are not being catered to but rather that we are recognized," she said, her AIDS 2018 lanyard laden with pins and stickers. She sees her recent stint with the Youth Force as a way to change things. "There are still so many young people getting infected with HIV and dying. It means we are failing and the system is not working," Ms Martinez said. In her view, HIV policy has to also come from the ground upwards. She emphasized peer-to-peer education and valuing local knowledge. Standing in front of a huge 'Let's face HIV together' she said, "We speak the language of the young people and we know what we are living, so acknowledge us fully."

HIV and other sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies continue to pose a high health burden for millions of people, especially young women and key populations.

Data presented during a session of the 2018 International AIDS Conference, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, from 23 to 27 July, entitled Condoms 2.0: Reinvigorating Effective Condom Programming in the Era of Epidemic Control, shows that condom promotion has averted an estimated 50 million new HIV infections since the onset of the HIV epidemic. Condom use at last higher-risk sex has increased over the past three decades in most countries across the world and is as high as 80–90% in some countries. Furthermore, in all countries for which data are available, a steady decrease in new adult HIV infections between 2000 and 2016 is associated with steady increases and high levels (more than 60%) of condom use by both men and women at last sex with a non-regular partner and condom use by men at last paid sex.

However, 30 years into the response to HIV and despite the increased use of condoms over the past three decades, condom availability and use gaps remain, in particular in sub-Saharan Africa, where the gap between availably and need is estimated to be more than 3 billion condoms. The estimated condom need in 47 countries in sub-Saharan Africa in 2015 was 6 billion male condoms; however, only an estimated 2.7 billion condoms were distributed.

The participants highlighted the many barriers and inequities hindering access to, and the use of, condoms that continue to exist, including poor access, age restrictions, gender norms, religious norms, stigma, insufficient supply and, in some places, laws that make it an offence to carry condoms. Many countries also prohibit condom promotion and distribution in schools and other venues where adolescents socialize. According to the participants, of the 100 countries that reported having a national plan or strategy related to condoms in 2017, only 26 reported that the plan included condom promotion in secondary schools.

International funding for condom procurement in sub-Saharan Africa has decreased in recent years, and domestic funding has not sufficiently increased, the participants noted. In several countries condom programming, in particular condom promotion and demand creation, has stalled due to a lack of funding and decreased investment.

During the session, the participants stressed the need for a new generation of comprehensive, data-driven and people-centred condom programmes as part of the delivery of combination HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health services for people at higher risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies.

These new programmes should aim at strengthening demand for and supply of condoms and lubricants and address the barriers and inequities that hinder the demand for and the provision, access and use of condoms by young people, key populations and other people at higher risk of HIV. Furthermore, condom promotion and distribution strategies and approaches need to be informed by data, tailored to the context and needs of different communities.

Lastly, the participants agreed on the need to set up effective multistakeholder condom programming coordination and oversight platforms and ensure the full involvement of beneficiaries and communities in planning, service delivery and monitoring.

Maria Godlevskaya, a courageous community activist living with HIV from the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, was the only Russian language speaker at the opening of the 22nd International AIDS Conference, AIDS2018. 

"We all deserve high-quality treatment, regardless of sexual orientation, beliefs and religious preferences. We all deserve a quality life with HIV and without it. For many people, stigma and discrimination remain the main barriers to access support to preserve their health and the health of their loved ones." said Maria Godlevskaya in her opening remarks at AIDS2018. "I believe in the community. As an indestructible link in the chain of resistance, I have defended, defend and will defend the rights of people living with HIV to have full quality of life and a high standard of living. I encourage everyone to support our campaign "Chase the virus, not people!" #chasethevirusnotpeople

Maria has been living with HIV for over 18 years. She openly speaks about her HIV status on television and openly shares her personal story with journalists. Maria leads a team of peer counselors and runs a video blog at E.V.A. - the first Russian network to support women affected by HIV. She shares her personal experience and disseminates the latest HIV news and information with people affected by the epidemic across Russia every day.

"Some people call me and others reach out to me via social media. I try to respond to every request. I think my life has changed dramatically and now I have found my purpose in life. It is priceless to be able to communicate with people around the world.”

Maria was diagnosed with HIV when she was 16 years old. "When you are 16, there is no panic. You are not frightened by horror stories about AIDS and not bound by social rules, so it was not hard for me to accept my HIV diagnosis. I was more worried about my mother. My diagnosis was like litmus paper - people who were afraid of HIV abandoned me, but the most trusted ones have remained forever.”

Maria has been working for different HIV organizations for many years, starting with providing counselling for people who were using drugs and living with HIV. "At that time there were no well developed communities to support people who use drugs. We helped those in remission to start treatment and stay adherent to treatment."

A few years ago, Maria became pregnant and gave a birth to a healthy baby. "When I met the father of my child, I immediately told him about my "peculiarity” and left him to choose to stay with me. And he gave me a beautiful answer: ‘Every person has something special’ he said.  So we stayed together, and he remained HIV negative.”

I stayed on HIV treatment throughout and after my pregnancy, and I was lucky to have a great relationship with my doctor. My pregnancy and birth is now an example for other women living with HIV. Today I get lots of questions from young Russian women about pregnancy, health care, obstetrical care for women with HIV, so I can share with them my positive experience.”

Maria’s organization, E.V.A. implements many projects in Saint Petersburg and across Russia, focused on providing HIV services for women and their families: support groups for women living with HIV and their families; trainings to increase medical literacy among people living with HIV, and help for women to communicate and negotiate with their doctors and care givers.

"Our trainings help women to adhere to treatment, minimize side effects, and manage undesirable consequences. We empower women to enhance their physical condition as they get used to taking ART long-term. We also support peer consellors so they can provide other women with moral and psychological support.”

Maria considers the main challenge of the growing HIV epidemic among women in Russia is that women have received little sexual education, lack a culture of safe and equal sexual relations and experience irregular monitoring of their HIV status. Many women simply do not identify themselves with any key population, and consider that having one regular sexual partner will safeguard their health. 

"Now we are seeing so many new HIV infections among women over the age of 50 - which brings new challenges as how to support these women. When a woman in her thirties learns her HIV positive status, she may understand how she acquired it. But women in their fifties or sixties are often shocked to learn they have HIV and they often think that their lives are over. In such cases, peer counsellors are so important because they can answer practical questions from their own personal experience.”

“I have a clear set of goals: I know why I'm doing what I do, and I have the energy and strength. I try to set real goals and don’t try to save the whole world – I’m just supporting those who really need help.”