Blame & Banishment - Médecins du Monde

Blame and Banishment: The underground HIV epidemic affecting children in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Another important area of innovation in the region is the establishment of youth-friendly
health services. These have marked a major shift in the orientation and attitudes of health
services towards a ‘client-oriented’ approach that aims to facilitate access and meet the
real needs of adolescents and young people. Such services are operating with more or less
success across the region. In the Russian Federation, 117 youth-friendly service facilities
have been established in 28 regions across the country, providing reproductive health and
sexual health services, information, counselling and psychological support to approximately
1.5 million young people. Initiatives like these are critical to youth at risk who have been
marginalized by legal, social and economic dynamics beyond their control. However, to be
effective, they require that service providers acknowledge young people’s complex and
challenging realities. Ensuring good standards and quality of care in these services is also
important, particularly if they are to reach those most at risk.
The need for quality, client-centred services is especially urgent for adolescents and young
people living with HIV in the region. The challenge for health and social services is to
ensure timely diagnosis of HIV, access to antiretroviral treatment and psychosocial support
to empower adolescents to cope with issues such as disclosure of HIV status, adherence
to treatment, positive sexuality and reproductive health. It is important to strengthen
partnerships between service providers, caregivers and HIV-positive adolescents, their
families, schools and communities.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2005-1820/G. Pirozzi. Ukraine, 2005 © UNICEF/NYHQ2005-1821/G. Pirozzi © Courtesy A. Tsekhanovich, Humanitarian Action
HIV prevention counselling, educational materials and youth-friendly services.
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