Access to and affordability of medication and diagnostics is one of the core thematic areas for AIDS Action Europe. In our work, we focus on capacity building of patient activists on the current systems of research and development, approval of drugs and diagnostics, the nontransparent pricing procedures, and most importantly, providing examples of solutions to bring prices of medicines down, as…
The aim of this document is to show an approach based on the opportunities that harm reduction offers to people who use drugs, to the community and to society. It is part of the HA-REACT Joint Action on HIV and Co-infection Prevention and Harm Reduction.
"This booklet is an approach to drug harm reduction: policies and interventions aimed at reducing drug-related harm for people who use drugs. …
Harm reduction consists of policies, programmes and practices that reduce the negative health, social and economic effects of drug use.
This brochure explains how it can benefit people who use drugs, as well as their families and communities.
Download the brochure at https://bit.ly/2RZUvRl
Many people are not able or willing to stop their drug use. Harm reduction acknowledges that people…
HA-REACT has recently developed new online tools to train staff in low-threshold settings on HIV and HCV testing and linking to needed care, on opioid substitution treatment and condom distribution program in prison settings, on prison needle and syringe programmes and harm reduction.
New training courses are:
HIV and HCV rapid testing in low threshold settings for PWUD in English
Opioid…
The NGO INDIT Foundation, based in Pécs, is one of the few organisations, which is providing harm reduction services for people who use drugs (PWUD) in Hungary. The foundation maintains facilities providing medical care services and social support, such as the “Drug Clinic” with outpatient care or opioid substitution therapy (OST), and testing and counselling; and the so-called “Alcohology”,…
For prisoners with a history of drug use, in particular opioid use, the risks related to drug use, in particular overdose and death are extremely high in the immediate period after release from prison, due to high rates of relapse and lower opioid tolerance. Much still needs to be done in order to ensure that people with a history of drug use are sufficiently cared for, when released from prisons…
The National Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction (Národní monitorovací středisko pro drogy a závislosti - NMS), the Czech partner of the Joint Action on HIV and Co-infection Prevention and Harm Reduction (HA-REACT), is participating in and adopting cross-sectional activities on harm reduction in the Czech Republic.
Viktor Mravcik, the head of NMS, and his colleagues, Tereza Cernikova and…
This new leaflet describes the three-year project, which was launched in late 2015 with core funding from the European Union (EU), and is being implemented by 22 partners representing 18 EU Member States.
The overall aim of HA-REACT is to significantly contribute to the elimination of HIV and to reduce TB and viral hepatitis among PWID in the European Union by 2020. This objective is aligned…
HARMREDUCTION.EU is a brand new e-learning & knowledge hub for professionals in charge of health in prison/upon release, criminal justice/health/social service workers both in prison and in the community and drug users themselves, in Europe and in other regions of the world. All of the website content, including the e-learning courses, the "toolbox" and other sections (case studies, reports…
«We are totally left without any financial or moral support to fight not only the epidemic, but also a government, which sabotages the health protection of their citizens».
We already wrote earlier about the so-called “foreign agents law” in Russia and its enforcement on HIV service organizations. This time we talked to Anna Sarang, director of the Andrey Rylkov foundation, our member…
The European Joint Action HA-REACT's work is currently being featured in an ongoing series on the BioMed Central “On Health” blog and the Hepatology, Medicine and Policy (HMAP) blog. The first batch of posts sets out the vision of the Joint Action, our work in prisons, and a Polish perspective on collaboration.
Also new interviews on sustainable & long-term funding for HIV, TB and HCV and …
The AAE Steering Committee has defined an overall strategy and clear agenda spanning 2015–2017 "Continuity and Innovation - Towards a more effective response to HIV". Through this, we will strengthen our response to the epidemic, maintain our commitments and provide a framework in which we can prioritise our actions.
It is AAE’s duty to keep HIV/AIDS and co-infections as priorities on EU,…
AIDS Action Europe would like to welcome and introduce to you our new AAE Steering Committee Member: Sini Pasanen. Sini is from Finland and she will replace Lella Cosmaro as the new co-chair of the HIV/AIDS Civil Society Forum. Furthermore, AAE would like to thank Lella Cosmaro and Tamás Bereczky for chairing the Civil Society Forum.
Thank you Lella and Tamás
Lella has been a chair for the last…
This interview with Anke van Dam, the Chair of AIDS Action Europe (AAE) and the executive director of AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW), is about the main objectives of AAE for the next years, the achievements AAE has already gained and the regional challenges and differences in the region it works in. In addition Anke points out why a strong advocacy to UN and international donors is needed.
What…
European Civil Society Organisations that work in the field of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and viral Hepatitis called on Mr President of European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, to ensure that the EC immediately starts working on a comprehensive EU-Eastern Partnership Policy Framework, which will pave the way for HIV, Tuberculosis and viral Hepatitis elimination in both the EU and the Eastern…
The AIDS Impact Conference is an international behavioural and psychosocial science conference that addresses issues related to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care. The Conference took place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from July 28 to 31, 2015.
AIDS Action Europe not only used the opportunity to disseminate information materials at the CHAFEA stand but also was invited to co-host the…
On July 6-7 the HIV/AIDS Civil Society Forum held its 21st meeting. Besides the fixed agenda points, such as reporting of CSF activities and updates from the European Commission and the agencies, the meeting´s agenda focused on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and the use of gay dating apps for prevention among MSM; prevention among youth; gender and women issues; the role of self-testing in…
AIDS Action Europe is among 349 organizations who signed an open letter to all the UN Member States urging them to vote constructively in the upcoming elections to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations for the 2023-2026 term.
The open letter is coordinated by the International Service for Human Rights and is a part of a campaign to reform the UN…
On January 28, AIDS Action Europe conducted a conference on affordability of and access to medicine and diagnostics titled "The right to health vs. market priorities. How do we want to end AIDS without affordable medication and health interventions?"
They keynote speech of the conference was given by Anand Govard, who is a long term prominent human rights advocate in the areas of health.
Then the…
This year AIDS Action Europe Member and Partner meeting took place on November 19th. As part of the Meeting, AAE conducted a webinar on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), focusing on recent developments and backlashes in SRHR in Europe and Central Asia, and their impact on HIV-, and STI-testing, prevention, and linkage to care and treatment.
The idea of the topic of our webinar…
The European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG), AIDS Action Europe (AAE) and the EU HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis and TB Civil Society Forum (CSF) are working with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to understand the experience of stigma for people living with HIV in Europe and Central Asia.
One of the global goals on HIV and AIDS is to end the stigma and discrimination related to HIV…
The 5th European Harm Reduction Conference took place on November 10-12, 2021 in Prague, Czech Republic. Back in 2020 our members decided to include Harm Reduction as a new Core thematic area in our new Strategic Plan for 2022-2026 “Working Together to End Inequalities”. For that reason, a part of AAE's team attended the conference in accordance with the operations deriving from the new Strategic…
On October 27, 2021 within the framework of the European HIV Legal Forum, AIDS Action Europe launched a new project. This project will focus on monitoring and benchmarking legislation and practices relevant to discrimination of people living with HIV working in healthcare. This is second project under the core thematic area of “Tackling Stigma and Discrimination”, with another focusing on…
COBATEST has announced first elections for the Steering Committee members which will begin their governance starting January 1st, 2022.
All members of the network are highly encouraged to send in their candidacy to become new members of the Steering Committee and of course to vote during the elections (from November 11th to November 25th). The deadline for applications is Friday, October 22…
Letter to the Health and Research and Innovation Commissioners
AIDS Action Europe together with 12 organizations; including universities, students, healthcare workers, citizens; and public interest organisations has signed and sent a letter to the Health and Research and Innovation Commissioners, urging that the Innovative Health Initiative puts public health needs into the priority setting.…
”COVID-19 might blow off track the AIDS response and reaching the UNAIDS treatment targets and the 2030 target of ending AIDS as a public health threat might be at risk.” – is the new slogan we have been hearing from different stakeholders since the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. While the concerns are valid, COVID-19 policies and measures have raised additional obstacles…
The NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB has vacancies for a full two-year term (2022 - 2023) and is now recruiting for:
1 Delegate for Africa
1 Delegate for Asia and the Pacific
2 Delegates for Europe
2 Delegates for North America
Applications from people living with HIV, gay men and men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who use drugs, transgender people, young people, women…
Support. Don’t Punish is a global grassroots-centred advocacy campaign that raises the awareness on the harms caused by “War on drugs” and the criminalization of people who use drugs. The campaign’s Global Day of Action is June 26, which was recognized by the UN as the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The governments have long used this day as the day to commemorate…
Read the full statement here
Last week, the European Commission published its 2021-2022 annual work programme for the landmark EU4Health programme.
The undersigned civil society organisations welcome the ambitious budget of EUR 312 million for crisis preparedness, disease prevention, health systems, the healthcare workforce, and digitalisation setting a record new level of EU investment in…
Joint press release by Action against AIDS, AIDS Action Europe, and Deutsche Aidshilfe
The Political Declaration of the international community falls short of expectations – once again, no agreement on an ambitious strategy with concrete funding commitments is possible.
The United Nations (UN) “High-level meetings on AIDS”, titled: “Ending inequalities. Ending AIDS.” is taking place in New…
