Partnerships in Health with UNDP organizes the 7th Regional HIV/AIDS Conference in Sarajevo on 5-6 June 2014, titled Making Anticipated Results Possible (MARP): Expanding the HIV Response (there is a catchy wordplay involved here – MARP is also an acronym for Most At Risk Populations). The main topic of the conference is greater involvement of MARP (IDU, SW, MSM) in the system of available services, but a significant space on the podium will be given to the B&H government, who is expected to take over the HIV related projects after the Global Fund leaves the country in 2015.
7 Regional HIV and AIDS Conference is a high-profile conference which will host participants from dozens of countries from the region and world, including representatives of the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), delegates from Eastern Europe and Central Asia Constituency to the GFATM, high ranking representatives of the government organizations from the country and abroad, most notably Ministries of Health FB&H and RS, Institutes for Public Health FB&H and RS, Parliamentary Group for Population and Development B&H and many others.
The conference is organized as a three parallel track event, where one of the tracks, called Social Hub, will be reserved exclusively for informal presentations given by NGO and civil society organizations working in the field of HIV and AIDS.
The proposed venues for the conference are UN building and Parliament B&H.
7 Regional HIV and AIDS Conference is focused on the Most At Risk Population, IDU (intravenous drug users), SW (sexual workers) and MSM (men who have sex with men) who contribute heavily to the new infections.
According to the official information, there are 245 persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina living with HIV or AIDS. This puts B&H on the list of low prevalence countries, that is the countries in which HIV prevalence in adult population is less than 0.1%. As a stark contrast, the highest HIV prevalence in the world is found in Swaziland, with whooping 26.50%. When we compare these figures, it sure does seem that Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the safe side when it comes to HIV epidemic.
But the numbers only tell a part of the story. What is this statistics reveal is the prevalence of HIV infections among the people who have been tested on HIV, and there is no way of telling just how many HIV infections are currently undiagnosed. Fear of positive result, ostracizion of community, and not uncommonly „it can’t happen to me“ attitude contribute to relatively low numbers of people tested on HIV in B&H.
According to Aida Kurtović, the Executive Director of Partnerships in Health, a sub-recipient of Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and organization that oversees the work of 20 VCT center in B&H, the total number of people that received HIV tests in 2013 was 8542, of which 31 persons were positive on HIV. The discovered cases are only the tip of the iceberg, and there are many more of them currently below the radar.
Compared to general population, however, the three categories of people contribute a disproportional share of HIV infections in B&H: IDU (intravenous drug users), SW (sexual workers) and MSM (men who have sex with men). These three populations are presently the subject of rigorous field testing on HIV, conducted in drop-in centers, methadon centers, and rehabilitation centers across the country.
All those interested in participating and/or supporting the conference, please visit the conference website at http://www.balkanshivconference.com.
