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| TV marks
World AIDS Day On November 30, 1998 the popular TV Talk show "We" devoted to HIV/AIDS issues was aired on ORT, a Russian TV channel that covers the Russian Federation and CIS countries. Dr. Onishchenko, the First Deputy Minister of Health of the Russian Federation, appeared as a "guest in the studio" to respond to questions and problems raised by Mr. Vladimir Pozner, the host, and his audience. The invited experts represented the Ministry of Health, State Duma, a St.Petersburg Hospital where HIV-infected children are treated, UNAIDS, Medicins sans Frontieres (Holland), and an HIV-infected person respectively. The participating audience was quite heterogeneous and included medical doctors, scientists, NGO members, students, and HIV-infected people having a variety of opinions on the HIV/AIDS issues. The show succeeded in revealing many HIV-related issues, quite a number of them yet unanswered, and demonstrated that there was room for everybody to put their efforts towards improving the situation and preventing the HIV epidemic in Russia. The show was the first in a series of TV events planned by Mr. Pozner. The show "The Man in the Mask" was already aired and revealed the problems of a family with an HIV-infected child. The recent NTV programme "Case in Court" has touched as difficult a subject as the discrimination of an HIV-infected person and his family. It is expected that during 1999 Russian electronic and press media will devote more coverage to HIV-related problems and ways to solve them. Multisectorial Approach to HIV/AIDSThe first regional (CEE/CIS) workshop on HIV/AIDS-related legal and ethical issues was recently held by UNAIDS in Zvenigorod, Russia. Its participants came from Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, representing ministries of justice, heads and lecturers of the law from 14 universities and academies, as well as lawyers from non-governmental organisations. Briefing on the medical, epi-demiological, social and economic aspects of the HIV epidemic in the CEE/CIS region were provided by professionals of the Russian Scientific and Methodological HIV/AIDS Centre, UNICEF, Medicins sans Frontieres (Holland), AIDSinfoshare, and the Russian Names Fund. Messrs. Kevin Ryan and David Patterson, international UN consultants, provided expertise and facilitated plenary and group sessions. The participants also discussed the application and implementation of the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights (published by UNAIDS and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights). The workshop is the initial step in a two-year programme to establish a regional network of legal experts who will provide technical advice to governments and other responsible bodies in the CEE/CIS countries. |
Strength in the
regions
UNAIDS Representative in the RF Arkadiusz Majszyk (right) meets with Dmitry Ayatskov, Governor of Russia's Saratov Region, during his trip to the area. In December 1998 UNAIDS Representative in the RF Mr. Arkadiusz Majszyk paid his first visit to Saratov within the framework of the Strategic Planning project. The discussions about avenues of cooperation with Governor of the Saratov Region Mr. Dmitry Ayatskov, regional Government officials, professionals and NGOs activists showed that there is strong concern and commitment to fight the HIV threat in the region, and that a number of immediate joint steps can be undertaken. The parties signed a Letter of Intent to express their willingness to cooperate on the development of strategies and the implementation of programmes and projects aimed at preventing the general HIV epidemic in the Saratov region. The mechanisms of cooperation will include information and experience exchange; collaboration in common projects, as well as development and implementation of joint programmes. It was agreed that an action plan would be developed by 1.5 March 1999. |
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United Nations Children's Fund |
| Mother's
milk builds up babies' immune system The Russian State Medical University in Moscow was the venue of a recent conference on breast-feeding. The conference was arranged by the UNICEF Moscow office and the Russian Health Ministry to stress that breast-feeding is an important prerequisite for the sound health of newly born and older babies because mother's milk lays the foundation of a child's immune system. According to Dr. Gianni Murzi, UNICEF representative in Russia, the one-day conference was the first of its kind and was attended by many health-care providers (paediatricians, neonatologists and obstetricians) including directors of maternity hospitals from the
This leaflet has been published by the St.-Petersburg Maternity No. 11, which was one of the first in Russia to receive UNICEFIWHO Baby-Friendly Hospital status. Central and Black Soil regions of Russia. After the delivery of several reports, conference participants shared their views, findings and experiences to create strategies aimed at promoting breast-feeding and establishing a supportive breast-feeding environment.
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Iodised salt
for Russia - from Kiwanis International
The recent Kiwanis International delegation members after inspecting the 300-meter deep lletsksol Salt Mine in Orenburg Region, the Sothern Urals. UNICEF has teamed up with Kiwanis International to supply the Russian food industry with equipment and raw material to iodise salt. More than 60 % of the country's territory is iodine deficient, resulting in various health problems. To prevent them, iodised salt must become a basic component of the Russian diet. In 1982 the Russian salt industry produced 500,000 tons of iodised salt, covering all the needs of both the population and food industry. But since 1991, production of iodised salt in Russia has come to a halt. Kiwanis International, through the contributions of its members and clubs, has provided $257,500 to upgrade salt-iodising equipment and technology. Kiwanis International President Glen Bagnell and President-Elect Nettles Brown recently visited Russia to assess the project's progress and promote the fight against iodine deficiency disorders (IDD), the leading cause of retardation in mental development. Further efforts will focus on increasing public demand for iodised salt and increasing awareness among government officials, health providers, teachers and the general public. Training police to help youth Upon the request of the Internal Affairs Ministry, UNICEF is providing technical assistance in the training of police officers on reha-bilitative approaches in dealing with street children, children at risk (often from families stricken by poverty or alcoholism), and children in conflict with the law. A group of Canadian experts recently provided a general assessment of the situation and conducted initial training for 25 department heads in the prevention of criminal activity among adolescents from the different regions of Russia. The main training topics touched upon a system of interaction and cooperation between the police and other structures and mechanisms for the introduction of social services in dealing with young offenders and children at risk. The police chiefs are expected to receive further training abroad to enable them to train their colleague. |
