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Russian Red Cross Creates Innovative HIV/AIDS Care Solutions
Written by
Lesly Simmons
, Staff Writer, RedCross.org
Monday, February 13, 2006 — The American Red Cross is supporting national Red Cross Societies from Haiti to Russia in the fight against HIV and AIDS. By providing technical assistance and funding support, the American Red Cross creates partnerships that educate people about the disease and helps those who care for people infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS.
One such partnership is with a Russian Red Cross branch in the Eastern Siberian city of Irkutsk. The Irkutsk region has the highest number of HIV cases in Siberia and is second only to Moscow in the total number of cases in Russia.
In December, Dr. Rachel Lucas, Senior HIV/AIDS Technical Advisor for American Red Cross International Services, visited Irkutsk to learn more about the unique interventions that this Red Cross branch has developed locally to serve people affected by HIV/AIDS in the community and the region.
A Russian Red Cross volunteer, who is HIV positive and leads a peer support group, conducts a seminar on the counseling of HIV-positive people for staff of the organization and other volunteers. The peer support group for persons who are HIV positive was founded by the Russian Red Cross in the Irkutsk region in July 2003 as part of the “Care and Support Project for People Living with HIV/AIDS.” Group meetings are held every Friday, and the atmosphere at the meetings is always supportive and helpful. Visitors can discuss different issues including family relationships, difficulties bringing up children or problems finding a new job. The group also helps solve the problem of loneliness; it helps the individuals feel like a member of society, not an outcast.
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Since 1999, the Irkutsk region has seen an explosion in HIV cases. Unlike some other areas, the region was relatively late to experience HIV/AIDS as an epidemic, but today Russia has the second fastest growing rate of HIV/AIDS in the world. In recent months, the Russian government has stepped up its response—in 2006, it increased funding to $100 million and has promised to provide twice that amount in 2007.
“Because HIV/AIDS was, until very recently, concentrated among a few select groups that were highly stigmatized in Russia—drug users, commercial sex workers, and prisoners—health and government officials were slow to respond to the needs of these groups,” said Lucas. “However, there is strong evidence that HIV is rapidly spreading in the general population through sexual transmission in many parts of Russia, and the government is finally launching an intensified and coordinated response.”
While waiting for the government to step in, the Russian Red Cross in Irkutsk, supported by the American Red Cross through an anonymous donor, developed several unique interventions to address the epidemic including the “Care and Support Project for People Living with HIV/AIDS.”
Since its start in 2003, the Project has developed a multi-disciplinary approach to providing care and support for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, filling a large service delivery gap. Through the project, the Russian Red Cross in Irkutsk has provided psychological, legal and social assistance and support to more than 18,000 people affected by HIV/AIDS in Irkutsk.
The Russian Red Cross of Irkutsk through “Care and Support Project for People Living with HIV/AIDS,” and with the assistance of the American Red Cross, is helping low-income families with children born to HIV-positive mothers. Here, visiting nurse Olga Oreshnikova provides additional nutrition by delivering a food parcel while making recommendations on vitamins to a woman with a 3-1/2-year-old child.
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One of the most unique aspects of the project is the care and support services offered by visiting nurses, who provide nutritional, health, developmental and psychological support for pregnant women with HIV and children born to HIV positive mothers. Project developers have created a guide with a comprehensive set of practices that offers guidance, lessons learned and best practices for others in similar circumstances.
“It’s very unique to find peer-reviewed materials that are coming from the host country,” said Lucas. “Often times, international non-governmental organizations coming in to the region will produce materials and sometimes they will resonate, sometimes they won't. This manual is produced with an understanding of the needs in the local community.”
Lucas is now working with the American Red Cross health delegate in Russia, Ramine Bahrambegi, and the Russian Red Cross to determine how the project can be scaled up and expanded to serve other Russian communities in need.
Red Cross Supports Global HIV/AIDS Programs
In addition to working with the Russian Red Cross, the American Red Cross works on several other international HIV/AIDS programs around the world, including:
- A counseling, safety, and blood testing program in Honduras, which will be complete in September 2006
- “Together We Can,” a youth education project active in three countries—Haiti, Guyana and Tanzania, running through 2009 and
- A Nigerian youth peer education program set for completion in 2009
All projects, except for the one in Russia, are funded by U.S. government grants awarded to the American Red Cross after a proposal process. Russia’s program is sponsored by an anonymous American Red Cross donor.
In all of the countries except Guyana and Honduras, an American Red Cross delegate works on the program as part of a local Red Cross Society or International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies office.
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