A number of NGOs on October 19 staged an event to sensitize the National Health Insurance Company (CNAM) to the need to finance national programs to reduce the risks of HIV infection.
Contacted by IPN, head of the Union for HIV Prevention and Harm Reduction Ala Yatsko said that until now the given programs were financed by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, but now the Fund announced it will continue to provide financing only if financial support is offered from the national budget. The Ministry of Health named the CNAM’s Prophylaxis Fund as a source of financing for these programs.
“Regrettably, the CNAM, despite the dialog we had in the course of this year, didn’t initiate the procedures to enable this financing. That’s why we gathered together to reiterate the necessity of financing these programs at least starting with January 1, 2017,” stated Ala Yatsko. She added that representatives of the CNAM promised today that they will announce the steps that need to be taken in this regard at the beginning of next week.
Within the event, there was launched an advocacy campaign entitled “Risk reduction works!”. This will be carried out in ten districts of Moldova to increase the local public authorities’ awareness of the importance of the programs to reduce risks associated with taking injectable drugs and HIV infection, to improve cooperation between the authorities responsible for the prevention of these risks and to change the perception of drug users in society. The initiators of the campaign also aim to convince the local public authorities that the financial support of the communities is very important for maintaining HIV risk reduction programs.
The event included an exhibition of photos showing life stories of persons who benefitted from the services of risk reduction programs.
