Main event Baltic Pride parade, there will be an opportunity to undergo rapid HIV testing

The Estonian Network of People Living with HIV is pleased to announce that during the main event Baltic Pride parade, there will be an opportunity to undergo rapid HIV testing from 15:00 to 17:00.

Rapid HIV tests are a reliable and effective way to determine the presence of the virus in the body. They provide quick results, eliminating the need for long waiting times. Our specialists will be available to conduct tests, answer questions related to HIV, and provide consultations on other health matters. The testing and consultation services we offer are confidential.

Additionally, you can receive free condoms, lubricants, and informational materials. Don’t forget to visit https://ehpv.ee/lgbtiq/?lang=en as well as the booth of the Estonian Network of People Living with HIV with support of National Institute for Health Development.

NTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S DAY – June 1, Today

NTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S DAY – June 1, Today
International Children’s Day is celebrated annually on June 1 in different parts of the world as an initiative for children’s well-being and rights.

Dramatic progress has been made in reducing the number of children born with HIV. Building on the success of the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive, a commitment to accelerate progress towards ending paediatric AIDS was adopted in the Political Declaration on Ending AIDS, adopted by United Nations Member States in June 2016. The Start Free Stay Free AIDS Free framework is based on achieving ambitious new targets for 2018 and 2020, embracing a life-cycle approach towards achieving an AIDS-free generation, with a focus on the first 0–24 years of age.

https://www.unaids.org/en/topic/children

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World No Tobacco Day 2023

On 31 May 2023, WHO and public health champions around the world will come together to celebrate World No Tobacco Day (WNTD). This year’s theme is “Grow food, not tobacco”. The 2023 global campaign aims to raise awareness about alternative crop production and marketing opportunities for tobacco farmers and encourage them to grow sustainable, nutritious crops. It will also aim to expose the tobacco industry’s efforts to interfere with attempts to substitute tobacco growing with sustainable crops, thereby contributing to the global food crisis.

Tobacco growing and production exacerbates food insecurity

The growing food crisis is driven by conflicts and wars, climatic shocks, and the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Structural causes like the choice of crop also have an impact, and a look into tobacco growing reveals how it contributes to increased food insecurity:

  • Across the globe around 3.5 million hectares of land are converted for tobacco growing each year. Growing tobacco also contributes to deforestation of 200 000 hectares a year.
  • Tobacco growing is resource intensive and requires heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers, which contribute to soil degradation.
  • Land used for growing tobacco then has a lower capacity for growing other crops, such as food, since tobacco depletes soil fertility.
  • Compared with other agricultural activities such as maize growing and even livestock grazing, tobacco farming has a far more destructive impact on ecosystems as tobacco farmlands are more prone to desertification.

Any profits to be gained from tobacco as a cash crop may not offset the damage done to sustainable food production in low- and middle-income countries. Against this background, there is an urgent need to take legal measures to reduce tobacco growing and help farmers to move into the production of alternative food crops.

Supporting the creation of alternative livelihoods

The tobacco industry often touts itself as an advocate for the livelihood of tobacco farmers. This is a far cry from the truth. The intensive handling of insecticides and toxic chemicals during the cultivation of tobacco contributes to many farmers and their families suffering from ill health. Further, unfair contractual arrangements with tobacco companies keep farmers impoverished, and the child labour that is often woven into tobacco cultivation interferes with the right to education and is a violation of human rights.

The 2023 WNTD campaign calls on governments and policy-makers to step up legislation, develop suitable policies and strategies, and enable market conditions for tobacco farmers to shift to growing food crops that would provide them and their families with a better life. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control offers specific principles and policy options on the promotion of economically viable alternatives for tobacco workers, growers and individual sellers (outlined in Article 17), and on enhancing protection of the environment and the health of people (Article 18). The implementation of these provisions should be strengthened in countries.

https://www.who.int/europe/news-room/events/item/2023/05/31/default-calendar/world-no-tobacco-day-2023–we-need-food–not-tobacco

21.may International aids candlelight memorial 2023

The theme “Spread Love and Solidarity to Build Stronger Communities” highlights the significant challenges that people living with HIV face due to persistent stigma and discrimination leading to feelings of shame, self-doubt, and isolation, preventing individuals from seeking the care and support they need. By addressing both stigma and self-stigma, we can help stop the perpetual negative language around HIV transmission, burst myths and misinformation about life with HIV, and end HIV stigma and discrimination that have long been a barrier to effective HIV prevention and treatment.

Today, 17 May, marks the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT).

Today, 17 May, marks the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT). The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOT) is an occasion that reminds us how violence and discrimination experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, nonbinary and other identities (LGBT+) have adverse effects on health. Homophobia and transphobia are manifested in inequalities ranging from structural to those experienced by individuals. The hostile situation in dozens of countries towards LGBT+ people exposes them to social vulnerability, leading to health problems. Specifically, in virtually all parts of the world, including places with generalized epidemics, HIV prevalence is highest among men who have sex with men and transgender women. There are numerous economic injustices related to homophobia and transphobia and their effects on job accessibility. This shows that the vulnerability of people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities is closely related to sexual health problems.
Structural homophobia and transphobia are responsible for the lack of positive representation in media, the lack of diverse content in sexuality education provided in schools, the lack of sensitization of health personnel to provide friendly services to LGBT+ people, and the criminalization of same-sex sexual practices and gender expressions that disrupt traditional sex roles. At the individual level, homophobia and transphobia are expressed within the family, school and work environments. The resulting mental health effects can be associated with increased suicidal ideation, stress and anxiety, as well as internalized homophobia and transphobia, leading to increased vulnerability to HIV, sexually transmitted infections and substance abuse. The current increase in sexualized drug use—or chemsex—among gay and bisexual men worldwide also contributes to increases in HIV and other infections, such as hepatitis C. Problematic drug use may be associated with experiences of discrimination and violence related to the rejection of their sexual orientation. In the case of transgender people, particularly transgender women, the educational, economic and social precariousness derived from transphobia places them at exceptionally high risk of contracting HIV [13] and experiencing multiple other difficulties, such as substance abuse and lack of access to health services, including those related to mental health and gender-affirming treatments.
The recent Mpox outbreak reminded us that stigma and discrimination exist even in the most LGBT+-inclusive countries, and that affected communities can make a positive difference in collectively responding to health issues that impact them. Gay and bisexual men rapidly mobilized to face this new challenge, just as was done 40 years ago to respond to HIV in the face of slow government action and indifference [15].

The problem is that communities cannot mobilize if criminalized and persecuted. Nor can they do so if they do not have the resources to have a place to live or to feed themselves. This is why breaking down structural and individual barriers that prevent LGBT+ people from organizing and defending their rights is necessary. Every step backwards in human rights will be a step back in the response against HIV.

XIX International Summer Camp on 15-18 Mai 2023.

EHPV is going to conduct the XIX International Summer Camp on 15-18 Mai 2023.
The main goal of the International Summer Camp is to promote the development of leadership features among PLHIV.
The participants are activists, volunteers, and PLHIV community leaders.
International Summer Camp is 4-days training with the different methods of work: presentations with discussions, warm-ups, working in small groups, informal communication.
The use of various training forms allows participants to study from multiple points of view and gain specialized knowledge and skills.

European Testing Week 2023

European Testing Week is a European campaign that encourages partner organisations — in community, health care and policy institutions — throughout Europe to unite for one week twice a year to increase testing efforts and promote awareness on the benefits of earlier hepatitis and HIV testing. This initiative has progressed since its start in 2013 and has grown to be a widely recognised European event with hundreds of organisations participating every year. What once started as an annual event has now become a biannual event with two ETWs occurring each year in Spring (May) and Autumn (November). Each organisation volunteers their own time to organise their Testing Week activities and create incredible displays of a united effort to increase testing awareness at all organisational levels.

Now in its eleventh year, the European Testing Week initiative will host the Spring and Autumn ETWs on the following dates:

  • Spring ETW: 15-22 May 2023
  • Autumn ETW: 20-27 November 2023

The aim of the Spring and Autumn ETWs remains the same: to unite partner organisations throughout Europe for one week to increase access to testing and promote awareness on the benefits of earlier hepatitis and HIV testing.

Are you interested in joining the campaign? Then click the ‘Sign-up here’ below and register your organisation!

HIV statistics 2023

As of March 30, 2023, 41-HIV-infected persons have been diagnosed in Estonia.

A total of 10,623 people have been diagnosed with HIV in Estonia over the years.

World TB DAY 2023

The year 2023 is going to be critical for all of us engaged in tuberculosis (TB) work and should be championed as the ‘year of hope’ to get full support, attention, and energy for a collective ‘YES! We Can End TB’. The theme brings attention to TB and our collective power to end TB by 2030 and therefore reach the Sustainable Development Goals. Let us build on the fantastic work done in 2022 by many TB High Burden Countries to recover from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic while ensuring access to new diagnostics, new treatment regimens, digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) for the TB response. It centers on the increased engagement of those affected by TB, communities and civil society that is leading the movement towards ending this disease.

The theme of World TB Day 2023 is: Yes! We Can End TB

More information can be found here.

World TB Day, falling on March 24th each year, is designed to build public awareness that tuberculosis today remains an epidemic in much of the world, causing the deaths of nearly one-and-a-half million people each year, mostly in developing countries. It commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch astounded the scientific community by announcing that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. At the time of Koch’s announcement in Berlin, TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, causing the death of one out of every seven people. Koch’s discovery opened the way towards diagnosing and curing TB.

YES! WE CAN END TB

The year 2023 is going to be critical for all of us engaged in tuberculosis (TB) work and should be championed as the ‘year of hope’ to get full support, attention, and energy for a collective ‘YES! We Can End TB’. The theme brings attention to TB and our collective power to end TB by 2030 and therefore reach the Sustainable Development Goals. Let us build on the fantastic work done in 2022 by many TB High Burden Countries to recover from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic while ensuring access to new diagnostics, new treatment regimens, digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) for the TB response. It centers on the increased engagement of those affected by TB, communities and civil society that is leading the movement towards ending this disease.

There are several key areas to focus on such as financial needs to scale up implementation and speed up, research and development of new tools including a
new TB vaccine, access to new rapid molecular diagnosis and to new shorter and more efficient treatment regimens, TB prevention, TB in children, strengthening and funding Communities, Rights and Gender (CRG) work.

This year’s campaign aims to contribute to boosting the global TB awareness and ensure the endorsement of a strong political declaration and maximum participation by the Heads of State and Heads of Government at the upcoming UNHLM on TB in
September 2023.

The Stop TB Partnership and all partners are calling on all those involved in the fight against TB to unite under this overarching theme. World leaders must redouble efforts to end TB and save lives.

YES! WE CAN END TB

It´s time to get the support of the online community to let the world know that we can #EndTB. Take part in the #YesWeCanEndTB social media challenge and join the fight to #EndTB.

Every year there are 10 million people get sick with TB. And because TB is airborne – It can affect any of us at any moment. But this should not happen, as we can stop spread and end TB. What we need is financing, What we need is financing, visibility and your support!

Refugiados ucranianos con VIH encuentran apoyo en Estonia

Cuando Svitlana huyó hacia Estonia debido a la guerra en Ucrania, no solo tuvo que lidiar con los retos de llegar a un país nuevo, sino además con cómo no abandonar su tratamiento contra el VIH.

“Me estaba quedando sin medicamentos (…). Intenté sacar una cita con un médico yo sola, pero la lista de espera era realmente larga”, explica la mujer, de 45 años, a la AFP.

Durante años, Svitlana, que tiene tres hijos, controló su enfermedad con la ayuda de medicamentos. Su marido la infectó sin querer cuando se conocieron.

En Estonia tuvo suerte. En el centro de refugiados logró obtener información sobre la red estonia de personas que viven con VIH (EHPV, por sus siglas en estonio), una oenegé que ofrece ayuda a quien lo necesita.

“Llamé al voluntario y le conté mis problemas (…). Pasaron unos días y lograron conseguirme una cita con un doctor”, explica. El personal de la oenegé, que nació hace casi dos décadas, incluso la acompañó.

“Ahora mismo, estoy con una terapia que me dieron en Estonia. Me siento bien, mis resultados son realmente buenos (…) Mi inmunidad es buena y la carga viral es de cero”, señala.

“No soy peligrosa para la sociedad, para otras personas. Ni en la vida cotidiana, ni en el trabajo, ni en ninguna parte”, resalta.

– “Situación difícil” –

https://www.lanacion.com.ar/agencias/refugiados-ucranianos-con-vih-encuentran-apoyo-en-estonia-nid21012023/

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