1st December-World day for fight agains AIDS

Ambulance for day-treatment of the HIV-positive is due soon

At the beginning of next month at the Clinic for Infective Diseases a special ambulance for day-treatment and counselling of the HIV-positive people should be opened, whereas at the ambulance “Vodno” a youth centre for sexual and reproductive health should start functioning.

The project will be implemented by HERA, financially supported by the Institute for permanent communities and USAID. In order to help the people who live with the HIV-infection, HERA in cooperation with the Norwegian church aid and the Norwegian government established a Fund for purchase of antiretrivirus therapy to the extent of 15,000 euros. These means will be allocated for buying medicine that the Clinic and the country lacks at the moment, and the means will be refunded from the Fund for health care insurance.

In cooperation with the Health centre “Skopje” a service will be opened for health services, education and counselling the youngsters at the age of 14 to 18, which will be located at the ambulance “Vodno”.

Drug trafficing and drug addiction, people trafficing and prostitution, as well as the prejudice about HIV/AIDS are listed as the most frequent reasons that bring to infection and spreading the infection.

The struggle against AIDS, of which this year three million people in the world died, is still far from the level that is needed to overcome the epidemic, UNAIDS warns in the annual report. About 14,000 people are infected with HIV every day. Five million people have been infected with HIV this year, which increases the number of disease carriers to 40 million, 2.5 million of which are children younger than 15.

UNAIDS set a goal for itself to provide approach to antiretroviral treatment for three million people by the end of 2005.

 

G.S.