Development of Combination HIV Prevention Programs for People Who Inject Drugs through Government and Civil Society Collaboration in the Russian Federation.

Population Services International (PSI) has worked collaboratively with several government institutions of the Russian Federation to develop and implement a model program to access health services for individuals who are opioid dependent, including those with HIV infection. Through the development of partnership agreements between government organizations (GOs) and non-government organizations (NGOs), a model of the continuum of care has been developed that identifies a Recommended Package of HIV Prevention Services for Injecting Drug Users (RPS-IDU). The implementation of the RPS-IDU in the Russian Federation offers a model for other countries with HIV epidemics associated with injection drug use. This paper will describe the model program and its implementation in one of the pilot program regions.

[The epidemiological characteristics of HIV infection in Turkmenistan]. / Epidemiologicheskie osobennosti VICh-infektsii v Turkmenistane.

In the presence of the low spread of HIV infection a sharp increase in sexually transmitted diseases is noted. Nevertheless, taking into account a rise in STD, the reality of the potential risk of the spread of HIV is emphasized. Thus, in 1996 morbidity is syphilis was found to grow 7.2 times in comparison with 1992, amounting to 37.5 cases per 100,000 of the population; morbidity in gonorrhea amounted to 32.4 cases per 100,000 of the population with the proportion coming to medical institutions not exceeding 30%. A high proportion of hepatitis B virus carriers was also established (from 15% to 30% of healthy persons), while morbidity in virus hepatitides rose twofold for the period of 1994-1995. During recent years the service for the prophylaxis of AIDS was noted to considerably decrease measures on mass screening. At the same time the article attracts attention to the necessity of increasing the work on the dissemination of information and education on HIV/AIDS drug among addicts, prostitutes and homosexuals. The Draft National Program of the Prophylaxis of HIV infection and STD for 1998-2002 has been worked out. Great importance of methodological and financial assistance rendered since 1994 by international organizations, including WHO, UNFPA, etc., have been emphasized.