Jean-Luc Martinage in Minsk, Belarus
The HIV situation in Belarus has not reached an epidemic level as in some of the neighbouring countries. According to official statistics released in May 2010, more than 11,000 infection cases have been registered and more than 2,000 people have died.
“Even if the number of cases has remained relatively stable, several factors are making the situation more worrisome,” explains Alexandra Makarova, health programme manager for Belarus at the representative office of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Minsk.
“The overwhelming majority of people infected are young (between 15 and 29 years’ old) and about 75 per cent of all new HIV cases are sexually transmitted. It seems clear that because many people are not aware of the danger, the number of HIV infections is certainly higher since they do not know their status and do not get tested. Many young people believe that as long as they don’t use drugs, they are protected from HIV. However, they have no idea of what happened in their partner’s past,” she adds.
Reaching young workers
To limit the spread of the disease and to reduce stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV, the Belarus Red Cross is implementing a substantial HIV programme that has several components since it reaches specific groups such as drug users but also young people, not only in schools and university but also in the workplace.
“Getting prevention messages across the workplace is essential since young workers are usually ignored by mass HIV prevention campaigns,” explains Alexandra Makarova.
Together with partners such as GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit), the IFRC supported Belarus Red Cross in setting up a new project that is implemented in three major Belarusian companies employing many young workers in Minsk and other cities. The objective is to organize prevention and anti-stigma information sessions in the workplace during work hours. They benefit from the advice and guidance provided by peer educators, some of whom openly living with HIV. Other trainers are either project staff of company staff members. They benefit from the advice and guidance provided by peer educators who are also people living with HIV. First, training is held for managers and human resources officers and then the staff themselves are trained.
Even though a lot still needs to be done to get rid of stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV, the first results are encouraging as more companies are willing to join the scheme. Most of the time, stigma against people living with HIV is connected with the lack of basic information on the way the virus can be transmitted so reaching young workers, who are themselves an at-risk group, without being aware is a priority.
“Youth against HIV”
Similarly, the IFRC and other partners such as the Danish Red Cross are supporting the Belarus Red Cross “Youth against HIV” programme which started in 2002. It is currently in place in about 30 cities throughout the country, involving a total of 430 volunteers. Furthermore, people living with HIV are actively involved as trainers, reference personnel and consultants in HIV prevention activities.
“The objective of the programme is to raise awareness, develop safe behaviour and reduce stigma,” explains Sergei Boltrushevich, coordinator for Belarus at the IFRC office in Minsk.
Ilia Oreshkov is 19 years’ old. He is in charge of the programme in the city of Grodno, in Western Belarus. Together with other volunteers and peer educators, he regularly organizes information sessions in schools, universities as well as working with young people, providing them with correct information on HIV transmission.
“This also has a significant influence on reducing stigma since most of the time, people change their attitude once they are given the true facts about HIV. The information we provide is often relayed on social media and web sites, which also makes it possible to reach even more people,” he explains.
“City where people live”
Using innovative methods is another way to help people change their behaviour. For this reason, Belarus Red Cross, supported by the IFRC and GTZ, teamed up with the Belarusian community of people living with HIV to create an exhibition called ‘City where people live’. It shows t-shirts, short letters and poems designed and written by people living with HIV – many of whom hide their status – enabling them to share their feelings and emotions.
Roman, from Gomel, wrote: “I have to wear a mask everyday because of the fear of being stigmatized. I hope one day I can take off this mask.” Olga, 27 years’ old, wrote: “He did not know he was infected and I did not think at all. Now, I am learning to live with HIV.”
Visitors go through virtual streets decorated by the t-shirts. The exhibition has already being shown in three cities in Belarus including Minsk. A catalogue with an English translation is being produced.
Belarus Red Cross, which is part of the IFRC Global Alliance on HIV, plans to further develop its activities, depending on the funding available. “We already received support from sister Red Cross societies such as the Italian Red Cross for training activities, but we hope to convince other partners to support our efforts,” concludes Tatyana Snitko, HIV programme coordinator at the Belarus Red Cross Society.