Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV   Russian Federation

Project Duration:  August 2004 – August 2007

Donors:  The GLOBUS Project implemented under the financial support of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Partners:     
Open Health Institute (www.ohi.ru)
International Antiviral Therapy Evaluation Centre (IATEC), Amsterdam (www.iatec.com)
PharmAccess International (PAI), Amsterdam (www.pharmaccess.org)
Research Centre of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Perinatology, Moscow (www.pregnancy.ru)
World Health Organisation (WHO) (www.who.int)

Regions: Vologda, Nizhegorod, Orenburg, Pskov, Tver and Tomsk Oblasts; Krasnoyarsk Region; Republics of Buryatia and Tatarstan; St. Petersburg

Background:

The registered number of children living with HIV/AIDS in the Russian Federation stood at 9918 as of 1 June 2004¹, compared to just 6 in 1996.  Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) remains the primary mode of transmission for nearly all of the estimated 5.1 million HIV-positive children worldwide².  Over 16 000 children were registered as HIV positive in Eastern Europe and Central Asia in 2001 alone³.  

In the Russian Federation, 25 to 40% of all HIV-positive women who are delivering a baby do not seek prenatal care⁴.  In such cases, HIV infection is detected only during delivery.  If pregnant women living with HIV/AIDS do not seek care prior to delivery, efforts to prevent transmission of HIV to the child are hindered.  In 2002, AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW) initiated an MTCT pilot prevention programme in collaboration with domestic and international partners in selected regions of the Russian Federation.  It is expected that between 500 and 1000 children will be born to women living with HIV/AIDS each year in the pilot regions.  This pilot programme follows the recommendations formulated by the World Health Organization.

Overall Objective:

The overall objective is to develop programmes to prevent the vertical transmission of HIV in 10 regions of the Russian Federation, and the implementation of these programmes in close co-operation with regional governmental structures and non-governmental organisations.

Target Audiences:

• Parents-to-be

• Women living with HIV/AIDS

• Pregnant women and mothers living with HIV/AIDS

• Children born to women living with HIV/AIDS

• Medical personnel of treatment institutions

• Administrators, healthcare professionals and NGO staff

Specific Objectives:

1. To prevent HIV infection among parents-to-be

2. To prevent unintended pregnancies among women living with HIV/AIDS

3. To prevent the transmission of HIV from women living with HIV/AIDS to their (unborn) children

4. To improve treatment, care and support services for women living with HIV/AIDS, their infants and families

(Expected) Results:

• Development, production and distribution of a collection of articles on the prevention of MTCT and the monitoring of children born to HIV-positive women

• Development and implementation of training and curriculum on the prevention of MTCT, voluntary counselling and testing, treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), antenatal care, prevention strategies, and safe delivery practices

• Development and implementation of peer counselling for and by women living with HIV/AIDS

(Expected) Success Indicators:

• Improved knowledge and skills on the prevention of HIV infection among parents-to-be in the regions

• Improved knowledge and skills on the prevention of unwanted pregnancies amongst women living with HIV/AIDS in the pilot regions

• Decreased rate of transmission of HIV from WLWHA to their (unborn) children in the pilot regions

• Improved care and support services for WLWHA, their infants and families in the pilot regions

(Expected) Materials Production:

• Readers on the prevention of vertical HIV transmission, the surveillance of children born to HIV-positive mothers, and ARV therapy

• Guidelines on peer education and prevention of vertical HIV transmission

• Booklets on ‘HIV and Pregnancy’, ‘Living with HIV’, ‘Post-exposure Prevention’, ‘Your Child and HIV’ and ‘Sexual Health’

• Posters on the prevention of MTCT

Research Completed and Planned by AFEW:

• AFEW will monitor and evaluate programme impact through focus group discussions and through KAPB surveys among the target audience

• In co-operation with partners an assessment of the capacity of local laboratories, and their readiness for HAART, will be conducted

For further information, please contact:

Dmytro Donchuk
Senior Programme Advisor, Care and Support Programmes
E-mail: dmytro_donchuk@afew.org

Vika Dollen Project Manager, Russian Federation
E-mail: vika_dollen@afew.org

Office Address:
V. Krasnoselskaya St. 32/3, 2nd floor
Moscow 107140 Russian Federation
Tel:  + 7 495 7392695
Fax:  + 7 495 7392695
Website:  http://www.afew.org

International Postal Address:
AFEW
P. O. Box 75752
1070 AT Amsterdam
The Netherlands

¹ Russian Federal AIDS Centre, ‘HIV-Infection, Information Bulletin, No. 25 (in Russian)’, Moscow, RF, 2003.

² World Health Organisation, ‘Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV: Selection and Use of Nevirapine’, Technical Notes, WHO, WHO/HIV_AIDS/2001.3, 2001, Geneva; Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and World Health Organisation, ‘AIDS Epidemic Update: December 2002’, UNAIDS/WHO, Geneva.

³ Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, Report on the Global HIV/AIDS epidemic: July 2002, UNAIDS, Geneva.

⁴ Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, ‘Pregnancy and Births Among Women Living with HIV/AIDS in the Russian Federation, 2000-2001’, 27 June 2002, Moscow, Russian Federation.