On this World AIDS Day – we would like to launch our report on “Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Report” This report shows findings of the survey that took place in June 2020. AAE conducted a survey among our network members and partners to learn how the COVID-19 Pandemic has impacted the services and finances of our member and partner organisations.
This survey shows that services with face-to-face client contact, who are most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, TB, viral Hepatitis and STIs, were most harmed in the first time when the Coronavirus Pandemic appeared in the WHO European Region and lockdown and hygiene measures got introduced.
There is growing concern among advocates and activists that the AIDS response, which has already been off track, has been and will be further off by the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures connected to it. The direct consequences are already reflected in this report too but we will only see the real damage it has done to the AIDS response in the upcoming months and years.
The access to services with face-to-face contact decreased significantly due to the implementation of COVID-19 measures. Trainings and educational programmes for communities and other stakeholders, such as health care professionals and school audience, were cancelled or postponed to a later undefined time.
To continue running their face-to-face services to the maximum possible extent and to introduce new forms of services, NGOs, community-based and -led organisation had to invest money, that was mostly not planned or available. Although in some cases donors and local or central governments stepped in to support, mostly own resources were used that put additional financial burden on organizations that also had to deal with the issue of loss due to cancellation of projects and/or funding events and programmes.
In December we will conduct a survey among the organizations that participated in the first phase to report us back answering the same questions.
