“Sustainability of HIV Services” project: interim report and the plans
March, 20, 2017, Anatoly Sadovnik, the head of the permanent healthcare and social policy commission of Odessa regional Council, had leaded the working meeting with the team of the pilot project “Sustainability of the HIV Services”. During the meeting, the on-going results of the project were stated.
Natalia Kitsenko, the head of the project, described the results and indicators of the project and expressed the deep gratitude to Anatoly Sadovnik for the support he provides for the project. “It is already 1 year since we started the project of the USAID “Sustainability of the HIV services” and signed the memorandum. We could attain many goals till now and one of the main things here is that we could deliver the message of the high need of the HIV services in the area and the necessity of the reform of the HIV services – to the government of Belgorod-Dnestrovski region”.
In particular, thanks to the technical support of the members of the project, the city program “City program of the HIV/AIDS prevention for the 2017-2020” was signed. In addition, the similar regional program “The regional program for the prevention of the HIV/AIDS and other socially dangerous diseases for the 2017-2020” was written and signed. Both of the programs were approved at the government’s sessions and were given the financial support, which means that the real understanding of the situation reached the governmental structures. Apart from this, the specialists of the project made the situational analysis in the area and gave the specific recommendations to the medical institutions of the city and the city region.
The team of the project also shared the plans of the development of the project. Already in the beginning of April the ambulances of the family doctors will open the HIV testing offices in the settlements of Stara Tsarichanka, Britovka and Zatoka – that’s is how the basic pack of HIV services – HIV counseling and rapid testing – will start being implemented in the area. The technical management of the offices is the matter of the co-financing from both – the project budget and the local government’s budget.
Apart from this, the replacement therapy office will be opened in the city of Belgorod-Dnestrovsk – for the people with the opioid dependency. The order to open the office was already signed by the head of the city hospital – Igor Desyatnik.
The working meeting resulted with the decision to initiate the writing of a letter to the head of the regional government Valery Lobanov from the local government chief Anatoly Urbanski – to ask for the increasing of the state part of the project budget and – the approval of organizing the city pharmacy with the right to distribute psychopharmacological, oncological and painkilling narcotic medications for the cancer patients, psychiatry patients and the patients with the opioid dependency, taking part in the replacement therapy.
At the end of the meeting Anatoly Sadovnik has proposed to the members of the project to give speech on the actual HIV-state of the area at the working meeting of the heads of the healthcare committees of the city administrations of the Odessa regional cites and talk about the need to expand the project on Ismail city.
