HIV/AIDS in the Western Balkans : Priorities for Early Prevention in a High-Risk Environment
In recent years, Europe and Central Asia (ECA) has seen the world's fastest growing HIV/AIDS epidemic. The Balkans countries and territories under study - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and the UN-administer...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Publication |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/01/6373880/hivaids-western-balkans-priorities-early-prevention-high-risk-environment http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7291 |
| Summary: | In recent years, Europe and Central Asia
(ECA) has seen the world's fastest growing HIV/AIDS
epidemic. The Balkans countries and territories under study
- Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia and
Montenegro, and the UN-administered Kosovo -- have reported
over 2,000 HIV/AIDS cases since the beginning of the
epidemic in 1985. In ECA, HIV/AIDS disproportionably affects
the youth population: 80 percent of HIV infected people are
30 years old or younger. This study confirms that the
Balkans region faces a triple jeopardy: 1) All structural
factors are present to drive epidemics transmitted
predominantly by heterosexual drug users; 2) Conflict and
economic decline handicap the ability of governments and
civil society to make an effective response; and 3) Old
ideologies and vested interests are set against key elements
of intervention known to be effective. Although the low
number of cases identified, and lack of reliability of
existing data, do not allow future trends of the HIV/AIDS
epidemic in the Balkans to be predicted with certainty, a
potential epidemic may develop or be halted in one of three
ways: Following the pattern of the epidemic in other
regional countries, it can become concentrated among
intravenous drug users and eventually spread to other groups
of the population through sexual contact. If Injecting drug
use does not become widespread, sexual transmission can
continue to be the most likely route for transmitting the
infection and establishing the epidemic. An epidemic is
prevented through early concerted efforts by the public
sector, nongovernmental organizations, and the international
community who closely cooperate with young people at high
risk of being infected or that are already infected. In this
scenario, highly vulnerable groups reduce the harm of
injecting drugs by avoiding associated risky practices such
as sharing needles and syringes; and both highly vulnerable
groups and vulnerable groups such as youth increase their
knowledge about the epidemic and adopt safe sex practices.
The study concludes that to decrease the risk of an HIV/AIDS
epidemic spreading throughout the Balkans region, and
becoming a long-term development problem as it has happened
in other regions, requires a mix of interventions aimed at
reducing the risk of infection in the short term, and
interventions aimed at tackling structural factors in the
medium to long term. However, political commitment has to
increase for action to occur promptly. |
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