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WHO World Health Organization |
The Mission Team of five members representing the WHO TB Control Programme in Russia, UNOPS as well as the Russian Ministry of Health and Russian partnering medical institutions went on an Assessment Mission to study the TB control situation in Evenkya. The Mission was initiated by the Administration of Evenkya that had requested the assistance of WHO. Russian Oil Company YUKOS, a signatory of the UN Global Compact, supported the Mission financially as the planned TB control project is a part of the long-term cooperation of YUKOS with the UN aimed at the development of Evenkya.
Evenk Autonomous Okrug situated in Eastern Siberia is going through a hard time of administrative reform and social change trying to address the pressing issues of high unemployment, poor living conditions, alcoholism and deteriorating health of the population. As the Mission Team concluded, at this background, tuberculosis has become a primary health concern with the incidence more than two times higher than Russian average.
The goal of the Mission was to assess the quality and organization of detection, diagnostics and treatment of tuberculosis in the Okrug. The needs of the Okrug in terms of logistical support of the TB Control activities were explored. The Mission was targeted at preparation of a set of recommendations for improvement of TB Control activities within the WHO approach as well as identification of the additional elements of the project that should supplement TB control measures.
The Mission concluded that current TB control measures are
insufficient and often poorly organized and monitored. In 
many
situations effectiveness of treatment is directly linked to issues of transportation
and communication, a serious concern in the vast territory that hardly has any
roads and no phone connection between remote villages. It is evident that social
problems represent a root cause of high TB incidence. Lack of motivation and
social deprivation are particularly noticeable among inhabitants of remote villages,
many of whom represent the ever-decreasing population of indigenous peoples
of the North.
The results of the Mission were summarized in the Mission report in which the situation is analyzed and major recommendations are given that should lay basis for the formulation of the project document. The project that YUKOS is ready to finance at the initial stages, should aim at introducing the WHO approach to detection, diagnostics and treatment of TB; training local medical staff; re-equipping the TB laboratories and creating a sustainable system of TB control in the Okrug. In addition, several project components such as capacity building of local administration, support of anti-alcoholism measures and promotion of local employment will contribute to improvement of social support within TB Control activities. The project implemented by WHO and managed by UNOPS is expected to commence in early 2003.
Since that assessment mission to Evenkya, WHO in cooperation with the local administration has prepared all the documents required to start the project implementation. A detailed programme to identify TB-infected persons in Evenk Autonomous Okrug, a detailed time plan which envisages the arrangement of training courses for all groups of specialists involved into the programme, as well as a schedule of inspection visits have been drafted. There has been identified a need for material and technical support of various project elements (the laboratory diagnostics of TB and TB treatment; raising awareness of population and patients and their relevant training). The agreement on cooperation between donor-UKOS and WHO is to be signed shortly.
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UNIC UN Information Center |
An exhibition of works by Russian artists, dedicated to the International Year of Freshwater, opened on March 21 at the UN Information Centre in Moscow. The exhibition was a joint project of the UNIC, the "Rose Garden" Art Gallery (Galina Mozheikina, Art Director), and the "Aid to Russian Art" charitable foundation (Olga Adamishina, President).
Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, UN Information Centre Director Alexandre Gorelik said: "The International Year of Freshwater (2003), declared by the UN General Assembly, has arrived at a period when the states have already reached general agreement with regard to the basic aims associated with water supply and sanitation". He recalled that, at the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000, world leaders assumed responsibility for reducing by half, by 2015, the number of people without access to safe drinking water – currently at 1.2 billion. At the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development, held in 2002, the goal was set of reducing by half, also by the year 2015, the portion of the world’s population without access to proper means of sanitation – today at 2.4 billion people.
The Year of Freshwater is aimed at mobilizing world public opinion to achieve these goals, through, among other things, raising the level of awareness about the problem, and encouraging new ideas and strategies to solve it. In this connection, the United Nations has planned a large number of events, with the World Water Forum (held in Kyoto, Japan, March 16–23, 2003) taking centre stage.
The UNIC Moscow sees its task as bringing home to the Russian
public the idea of the Year and the Forum, both through
mass media and by holding special events. The above exhibition was one of these.
The organizers of the exhibition did their best to show how the theme of freshwater
is reflected in the language of painting, and selected works by famous Moscow
artists to demonstrate this.
Yuri Popkov’s painting "The Old Tree" was the centrepiece of the exhibition. The tree symbolizes life – strong, large, but already aged, like the planet Earth itself. The spring depicts the source of life for every living thing, while the angel protects the spring from the evil.
Another painting by Yuri Popkov "The Blind Man" symbolizes humanity, literally raving in the darkness and not conscious of what it is doing. Leading it to water are two creatures – a bird and a dog – who sense instinctively that there is no life without water.
The beauty of the banks of the Volga, expressed in the language of impressionism, are extolled in the wonderful landscapes of Amir Timergaleev. The lyricism and tranquillity of still waters are conveyed in the realism of the watercolors of Aleksandra Chebakova, Sergei Andreyaki’s most talented pupil; the subtle, ethereal beauty of Aleksandr Sidelnikov’s canvases; the works of Olga Melnikova, a graduate of the Surikovsky Institute and a brilliant master of the academic style; the beautiful watercolors of Svetlana Galagan; and the pastels of Yekaterina Chernetskaya. And, of course, the landscapes of Boris Kuleshov, depicting Lake Baikal – a unique gem, and a priceless source of freshwater – always attract great attention.
