Joining Together To Tackle Hiv Aids In Europe

"The HIV virus does not respect national borders: the virus continues to spread throughout the European Union, where it poses a significant risk to the health, well-being and happiness of European countries and peoples. More than 50,000 people a year were diagnosed with HIV in 2007 and 2008 in the European Union and its neighbouring countries, and an estimated two million people are already living with the virus. Whether the focus of a project is on epidemiology and gathering of data, on education and prevention of new infections, treatment and care for people living with HIV and AIDS or overall policy development, every single project benefits from having a European dimension for its work. Only through the identification of best practices across Europe can results of projects be disseminated widely throughout the Union, and thus standards raised everywhere."--Editor.

The HIV virus does not respect national borders: the virus continues to spread throughout the European Union, where it poses a significant risk to the health, well-being and happiness of European countries and peoples. More than 50,000 people a year were diagnosed with HIV in 2007 and 2008 in the European Union and its neighbouring countries, and an estimated two million people are already living with the virus. Whether the focus of a project is on epidemiology and gathering of data, on education and prevention of new infections, treatment and care for people living with HIV and AIDS or overall policy development, every single project benefits from having a European dimension for its work. Only through the identification of best practices across Europe can results of projects be disseminated widely throughout the Union, and thus standards raised everywhere -- EU Bookshop.

The Eastern Europe and Central Asia region has the world’s fastestgrowing HIV epidemic. Although still concentrated, the epidemic has diversified, affecting several key populations in many countries. This change has increased the number of people in need, the ways the epidemic can spread, and the complexity of formulating an effective strategy to combat it. At the same time, international funding is insufficient to cover the growing need, and domestic plans to cover the funding gaps, in many cases, fall short. In this environment, the need to use data to make the best possible decisions about using available funds is essential. Tackling the World’s Fastest-Growing HIV Epidemic tells the story of how, in 11 countries across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, small groups of decision-makers and experts came together to carry out innovative, groundbreaking analyses for each country. It details the steps these nations have taken to strengthen their HIV programs based on the findings while highlighting critical issues for the road ahead. In so doing, the book also shows the potential of what can be done with a mathematical model and how it can support real-life improvements in policy and more efficacious budget allocations. It is the record of a unique undertaking to improve public health investments that offers lessons for many communities.

Major changes in the nature and dynamics of the AIDS epidemic over the last few years are reflected in changing epidemiological trends as well as in the progress made in biomedical research and treatment. AIDS in Europe brings together papers from leading social science researchers to look at the opportunities and challenges these changes bring and the different ways in which they are being responded to in both western and eastern Europe. Papers are organised under three headings: *new challenges for HIV prevention *care of people living with HIV/AIDS in a new therapeutic context *AIDS public policies: from specialisation to normalisation AIDS in Europe provides a comprehensive overview of current social and behavioural research on HIV and AIDS for all health professionals.

"This report by the Global HIV Prevention Working Group provides, for the first time, a region-by-region analysis of gaps in access to HIV prevention interventions, examines current spending levels versus projected need, and recommends funding and programmatic activities to avert 29 million of the 45 million new HIV infections projected between 2002 and 2010."--T.p verso.

The south eastern European countries of Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania are suffering from the effects of rapid socio-economic changes, such as increased unemployment and lack of access to educational services, increased substance abuse and rising sex trafficking, which have led to an alarming increase in HIV/AIDS. This paper reviews the approaches being adopted to address this problem in these countries and makes recommendation both for government strategies and for the World Bank's current and potential future involvement. Options are examined under the headings of: epidemiology and operational research; health care and social services; health communications and promotion; and civil society and advocacy.

Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death globally, particularly among children and young adults. The spread of new pathogens and the threat of antimicrobial resistance pose particular challenges in combating these diseases. Major Infectious Diseases identifies feasible, cost-effective packages of interventions and strategies across delivery platforms to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, malaria, adult febrile illness, viral hepatitis, and neglected tropical diseases. The volume emphasizes the need to effectively address emerging antimicrobial resistance, strengthen health systems, and increase access to care. The attainable goals are to reduce incidence, develop innovative approaches, and optimize existing tools in resource-constrained settings.

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) can make a vital contribution to public health and health systems but harnessing their potential is complex in a Europe where government-CSO relations vary so profoundly. This study is intended to outline some of the challenges and assist policy-makers in furthering their understanding of the part CSOs can play in tandem and alongside government. To this end it analyses existing evidence and draws on a set of seven thematic chapters and six mini case studies. They examine experiences from Austria Bosnia-Herzegovina Belgium Cyprus Finland Germany Malta the Netherlands Poland the Russian Federation Slovenia Turkey and the European Union and make use of a single assessment framework to understand the diverse contexts in which CSOs operate. The evidence shows that CSOs are ubiquitous varied and beneficial and the topics covered in this study reflect such diversity of aims and means: anti-tobacco advocacy food banks refugee health HIV/AIDS prevention and cure and social partnership. CSOs make a substantial contribution to public health and health systems with regards to policy development service delivery and governance. This includes evidence provision advocacy mobilization consensus building provision of medical services and of services related to the social determinants of health standard setting self-regulation and fostering social partnership. However in order to engage successfully with CSOs governments do need to make use of adequate tools and create contexts conducive to collaboration. To guide policy-makers working with CSOs through such complications and help avoid some potential pitfalls the book outlines a practical framework for such collaboration. This suggests identifying key CSOs in a given area; clarifying why there should be engagement with civil society; being realistic as to what CSOs can or will achieve; and an understanding of how CSOs can be helped to deliver.

HIV combination prevention is an approach that brings together single prevention initiatives into a comprehensive programme. This approach considers that the offer of multiple evidence-based interventions in a comprehensive programme will have a greater impact on HIV transmission than investing in a single strategy. In this report we present and test the feasibility of a novel approach to monitoring the implementation of combination HIV prevention at national level. The report uses survey data collected from countries who took part in the 2018 round of reporting on implementation of the Dublin Declaration on Partnership to Fight HIV & AIDS in Europe and Central Asia (known as 'Dublin Declaration' data). Eleven indicators were considered, using information reported through the Dublin Declaration survey on condoms, PrEP, HIV testing, ART coverage, viral suppression and sexual and relationship education. Data availability was assessed together with an analysis of whether each target was met. Three indicators were excluded due to the lack of specific targets. Overall, 42 of 52 countries could provide enough indicators, regardless of the outcome, to enable the metric of combination prevention to be used to evaluate their response to the HIV epidemic. A total of five were categorised as having evidence of combination prevention implementation, 15 as has having some evidence and 22 as having partial evidence. However, high levels of missing data mean that these baseline measurements should be interpreted cautiously. Furthermore, the indicators selected may not be equivalent in terms of impact, or evenly applied at sub-national level. The specific indicators and targets included in this approach must be further developed and can be adapted to particular settings, or as epidemics evolve.

Tells the story of HIV/AIDS in Europe from a broad variety of perspectives: bio-medical, social, cultural, economic and political. The authors are leading experts from across the region and include both the infected and the affected, be they doctors or former drug users, United Nations employees or gay men, public health researchers or community activits. They describe how, from the first documented cases in 1981 to the present era of antiretroviral management, controlling the human inmmunodeficiency virus in Europe has provided elusive.