AFEW Projects  

1^ST MASS MEDIA CAMPAIGN ON SOLIDARITY WITH PLWHA

PROJECT DURATION: May 2004 – February 2005
DONORS: Ford Foundation, Elton John AIDS Foundation, UNICEF
PARTNER(S): NGO FOCUS-MEDIA (http://www.focus-media.ru/en/)
REGION: Russian Federation

BACKGROUND
The Russian Federation (RF) is experiencing one of the worst HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world. According to the Russian Federal AIDS Centre, the number of registered cases of HIV had increased from 1 071 cases at the end of 1995 to 248 005 cases, or 169.8 per 100 000 population as of 4 August 2003. The majority of infections have occurred amongst injecting drug users (IDUs) although it is now spreading to the rest of the population via sexual transmission.

Since most experts, including the World Health Organisation and the Russian government, assume that the actual number of cases is 5 to 10 times the official figure, many researchers now believe there may be more than 1 million people in the RF infected with HIV. The number of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Western Europe stands at roughly 570 000 (UNAIDS, 'AIDS epidemic update, 2002', December 2002). The latest figures from the Russian Federal AIDS Centre predict that the figure will rise to 5 million PLWHA in the RF by the end of 2005.

Pervasive stigma has surrounded HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the pandemic. The destructiveness of HIV-related stigma and the accompanying discrimination has undermined interventions to combat the epidemic at a local, national and even a global level. It fuels the epidemic by making it difficult for men and women to adopt preventive behaviors such as condom use. Stigma and discrimination remain key obstacles to the success of ongoing prevention, care and support interventions. Russia is not an exception - people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) experience huge stigmatization and discrimination on the part of the general public.

To counteract the negative attitude experienced by this vulnerable group of people and as there have been no mass media solidarity campaigns for people living with HIV/AIDS in Russia before, FOCUS-MEDIA and AFEW are planning to initiate a solidarity program. The program aims to contribute to the education of general population in the Russian Federation and to prevent further stigmatization towards people living with HIV/AIDS.

Since 1996, AFEW staff have, in close partnership with the Russian NGO FOCUS-MEDIA, developed, implemented and evaluated four Safer Sex Mass Media Campaigns in the RF, which promote condom use and responsible sexual behaviour amongst youth, and have distributed information materials on sexual health issues on a large scale. International experience has proven that the implementation of well-designed mass media campaigns is an effective and cost-efficient method.

In this campaign, AFEW and FOCUS-MEDIA will bring together a message to promote solidarity with PLWHA.