In 2007, the Business and Labor program gained significant traction with the corporate community, making the continuation, strengthening and deepening of this program critical. TPAA’s work with businesses in Russia and Ukraine continued to flourish, given its merger with the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. TPAA also established new partnerships with some of Russia’s and Ukraine’s largest companies and more than 1,600 participants attended HEALTH@WORK trainings, representing all sectors of industry and business.
2007 highlights include:
Since the start of 2007, GBC/TPAA conducted 75 HEALTH@WORK trainings for over 1,600 participants, representing all sectors of industry and business at companies in Russia and Ukraine. Participating companies included White & Case LLP, MAC Cosmetics, Russian Managers Association, Norilsk Health Committee and Social Policy Department of City Administration, Norilsky Nikel, six metallurgic factories in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Kirovsky Plant in St.Petersburg, Shell, Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, Coca-Cola and Zhivaya Voda, among others.
In 2007, more than 95 new HEALTH@WORK instructors were trained and certified to lead trainings in the companies building capacity of private and public sectors in workplace prevention programs implementation. The trainings provided participants with an opportunity to increase their knowledge about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, to discuss issues related to the role of business in fighting HIV/AIDS and to learn new approaches for reducing denial and stigma associated with HIV/AIDS in the workplace including workplace policies,.
In February, TPAA held its first-ever specialized training for college students as part of a new initiative entitled, “HEALTH @ND STUDENTS: What every student should know about HIV/AIDS.” The new program is an extension of TPAA’s highly-successful HEALTH@WORK Employee Education Program and reflects TPAA’s comprehensive approach to promoting health awareness in the workplace – targeting both the workforce of today and tomorrow.
In March, TPAA organized a roundtable event with a top-level delegation from Becton Dickinson & Company (BD) to discuss cross-sector approaches to fighting HIV/AIDS and TB in Russia and Ukraine. The roundtable event played a critical role in establishing a new framework for initiating cross-sector partnerships on HIV/AIDS and TB in Russia and Ukraine.
In April, TPAA and the National Association of Business Against AIDS (BAA) in Ukraine held a special dinner reception in Kyiv for Ukrainian business leaders, government officials and representatives of international agencies and NGOs to learn more about new opportunities for corporate engagement on HIV/AIDS and TB.
First Project funded by Sverdlovsk Oblast Ministry of Health was conducted by TPAA in collaboration with Sverdlovsk Oblast AIDS Center. In framework of the Project HEALTH@WORK trainings were conducted for managers, HR and health specialists of 6 enterprises of the region, including 12 trainings for 5 heavy industry factories and following planning for further programs implementation.
In May, TPAA, in partnership with the Krasnoyarsk Region AIDS Center and the Health Department at the Norilsk City Administration, hosted a unique conference entitled, “Priorities and Mechanisms for Efficient Cross-Sector Partnership in the Area of HIV/AIDS Prevention” in Norilsk, Russia. Over 120 participants attended the event that resolved to strengthen interdepartmental cooperation between governmental institutions, medical services, media and NGOs, and to develop and implement comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention programs in the region that has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in Russia.
In May, TPAA hosted the first roundtable of the National Association of Business Against AIDS (BAA) in Moscow. 22 companies gathered to discuss best practices on how to safeguard their employees, the communities where they work and their economic interests from the risks associated with HIV/AIDS and other preventable diseases.
In June, TPAA participated in International Seminar: “Business Community and Public Authorities: Actual Issues of dialogue in the Context of Corporate Social Responsibility”, in ILO, Geneva, organized by International Organization of Employers and Russian Managers Association with presentation on Russian companies approaches to socially significant diseases prevention using HEALTH@WORK Prevention Program.
In July special presentation of HEALTH@WORK Prevention Program was organized by European Business Association for its member companies in Ukraine, Kyiv. The event was focused on raising awareness and providing information on approaches implemented by different companies in Russia and Ukraine.
In September, TPAA participated in a special inter-regional conference entitled “Business and Government: Social Partnership and Social Responsibility” in Saratov, Russia. The conference was organized by Government of Saratov Oblast to share experiences and discuss challenges in corporate social responsibility in Russia’s Privolzhsky Region. An official recommendation by the Ministry of Health and Social Development regarding workplace health and safety was also discussed during the conference and input was gathered from participating organizations and companies.
In October, TPAA and the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC) hosted a field trip in St. Petersburg and Moscow for senior executives of GBC member companies. High-level business leaders had a unique opportunity to witness Russia’s exploding HIV/AIDS and TB epidemics and learn about cutting-edge programs implemented in response by visiting numerous clinics, local centers and organizations.
In October, TPAA in partnership with the Russian Managers Association (RMA) held an Expert Meeting in Moscow to discuss research results from the study entitled, “The Effect of HIV/AIDS, Drugs, and Alcohol on Russian Companies’ Competitive Abilities”. 22 managers from businesses and non-governmental organizations met together to discuss the responses from 154 Russian companies. Participants had an opportunity to share best practices and also discussed how Russian businesses need improved legislation from the government and tax deductions for charity projects in order to be more effective in their response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and drug and alcohol abuse.
In October, TPAA/GBC, in close cooperation with the Elena Franchuk Foundation and Interpipe Corporation, held a meeting of senior business leaders to discuss the impact of HIV/AIDS on business and the impact of business on HIV/AIDS. GBC President & CEO Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke joined other dignitaries and business leaders in Kyiv to discuss how the AIDS epidemic affects human resources and business, as well as how businesses can get involved and join the global family of companies organizing prevention education for employees and communities to support social initiatives against HIV/AIDS.
POLICY & LEADERSHIP
On the policy front, TPAA continued to work to enhance HIV/AIDS policy dialogue in Russia and Ukraine, while also combating discrimination and stigma toward people living with HIV. TPAA has further mobilized political leadership in Russia and Ukraine to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the region. Through its Online Policy Resource Center on HIV/AIDS (OPRC), policy briefs, expert meetings, study tours, op-eds, and high-level policy conferences, TPAA remains the go-to source for up-to-date information on regional and national issues related to HIV/AIDS policy.
2007 highlights include:
In January, TPAA held an Expert Group meeting on HIV/AIDS and TB in Kyiv that provided a platform for discussion, and enabled positive steps to be made towards a more comprehensive and consolidated effort by governmental and NGO sectors to combat HIV/AIDS and TB in Ukraine. 14 experts on HIV/AIDS and TB from the government and non-governmental sector part in the event, presenting on current trends in the two deadly epidemics and accomplishments in Ukraine to date.
In April, TPAA published policy brief “On Funding Measures to Prevent and Fight HIV/AIDS in Russia.” Based on public data on HIV/AIDS funding in Russia, the policy brief assesses the allocation of funds, analyzes corresponding risks, and discusses measures to ensure efficient planning and fund management at both the regional and federal levels.
In May, TPAA released a policy brief “RIGHT TO HEALTH: Prevention and Treatment of HIV-infection among Most At-Risk Populations.” The brief provides an overview of related research data, internationally acknowledged best practices, and Russia’s acting legislation with a focus on the importance of HIV prevention and treatment programs for at-risk populations as part of an effective national response to HIV/AIDS.
In June, TPAA and Beijing Bureau of Health co-organized a special study tour for a high-level delegation of Russian policy makers and HIV/AIDS experts to visit China and study China’s experience in the fight against HIV/AIDS and implementation of medication-assisted treatment programs in China. The visit encouraged a careful examination of the Russian potential to adopt the Chinese experience of developing and implementing a comprehensive HIV strategy. A key take-away from the visit was that Russia needs not only a comprehensive strategy to curtail HIV/AIDS among IDUs, but also mechanisms that would efficiently implement such a strategy at all levels, whether national, regional or local.
In August, TPAA, in partnership with the State Duma of the Russian Federation and the World Health Organization (WHO), held a three-day workshop entitled, “The Biomedical Problems of HIV/AIDS: Vaccines and Microbicides” in Moscow, Russia. The workshop provided more than 40 participants with an excellent opportunity to supplement their baseline HIV/AIDS knowledge with in-depth information on international programs for curbing the HIV/AIDS epidemic and HIV/AIDS vaccine research in Russia and globally.
In October, TPAA in collaboration with the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC) hosted the first-ever Leaders Forum on Public-Private Partnerships. GBC/TPAA welcomed top policy-makers, business leaders and dignitaries from Russia, China and India in an effort to advance the fight against HIV/AIDS and TB in Eurasia. The event served as a springboard for the development and initiation of new, high-impact public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the area of public health.
In October, TPAA organized an interactive scenario building workshop entitled, “Building Scenarios: The Future of Public-Private Partnerships for HIV/AIDS and TB in Emerging Market Economies,” designed to analyze the role of PPPs in response to HIV/AIDS and TB in Russia, China and India. As a result of this workshop, the participants developed four scenarios of the HIV/AIDS and TB epidemics in emerging market countries and identified PPPs models that are most effective in the fight against HIV/AIDS and TB epidemics in Russia, India and China.
In order to inform the Leaders Forum participants about the specifics and the current status of the HIV and TB epidemics in Russia, China and India, as well as to encourage them to advocate for effective measures to address them, such as PPPs mechanism, TPAA developed a series of 12 fact sheets: HIV/AIDS Policy Frameworks and Implementation in Russia, China & India respectively; TB Policy Frameworks and Implementation in Russia, China & India respectively; An Expert Review of HIV and TB in Russia, China & India; fact sheet About Public-Private Partnerships; Case Studies on Public-Private Partnerships; Legislative & Institutional Frameworks for PPPs in Russia, China & India respectively.
In October, Prime Minister of Ukraine Victor Yanukovich had an official meeting with GBC President & CEO Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and GBC Executive Director Dr. John Tedstrom to discuss the political situation in Ukraine and the consequences of the HIV/AIDS and TB epidemics in Ukraine. The trio also discussed joint efforts that need to be taken to fight the epidemics by involving all sectors of society – government, business and NGOs. As a result of this meeting, the Prime Minister agreed to appoint a special coordinator for HIV and TB programs and has sent this directive to the government. Another important issue discussed during the meeting was the status of Ukraine’s commitment to providing substitution treatment for injecting drug users in the context of HIV prevention and treatment.
In October - November, TPAA published two regional policy briefs, "HIV/AIDS in Orenburg" and "HIV/AIDS in Tatarstan." The briefs assess major social and economic consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemics in Orenburg oblast, which ranks third in HIV prevalence among all of Russia’s regions, and the Republic of Tatarstan, a socially and economically important region with relatively moderate rates of HIV epidemic. The policy briefs analyze key factors contributing to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and provide an overview of measures taken by the regional governments and civil society organizations to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS.
In 2007, TPAA continued to update and strengthen its Online Policy Resource Center on HIV/AIDS (OPRC) in Russian and launched OPRC in English. Both versions of the site serve as a unique tool to inform international, national, regional and local level policymakers and other stakeholders about the status of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Russia, HIV/AIDS-related policies and legislation, and international best practices on the issue.
TPAA started the development of an innovative educational course 'Effective Strategies to Develop and Implement Regional AIDS Programs' aimed at the regional governmental officials. The course will include 3 modules: 1. 'Regional HIV/AIDS policy', focused on effective political and financial strategies to fight the epidemics effectively; 2. 'Strategic planning, project management, monitoring and evaluation in regional AIDSprograms', focused on the peculiarities of project development in healthcare sphere and importance of M&E for successfull regional AIDS programs development; 3. 'Cross-Sector Cooperation and Public-Private Partnership', aimed to give the participants practical tools to develop PPPs addressing HIV/AIDS epidemics in the region.
MASS MEDIA & PUBLIC AWARENESS
TPAA has continued to expand its innovative media efforts in Russia and Ukraine to help educate about HIV/AIDS and counter the stigma and discrimination against those living with the disease. The Russian and Ukrainian Media Partnerships to Combat HIV/AIDS (RMP) and StopSPID (StopAIDS) have proven successful in broadcasting the urgency of fighting the epidemic and are internationally recognized as effective campaigns to create HIV/AIDS awareness. In Russia, TPAA launched three new waves of PSAs as part of its dynamic StopAIDS campaign. The newest waves are particularly notable since all of the new ads are now linked to Russia’s national AIDS hotline, making this a true public-private partnership.
In addition, TPAA’s unique journalism program has provided strategies for writers and publishers to prepare high quality materials on HIV/AIDS and related issues and to counteract the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.
2007 highlights include:
In 2007, TPAA and the Russian Media Partnership to Combat AIDS (RMP) launched the fourth, fifth and sixth waves of the StopSPID “Affects Everyone” campaign. These three waves of PSAs included ten television ads, ten radio ads and five print ads. The RMP’s StopSPID campaign is the largest awareness campaign on HIV/AIDS in Russia and was acclaimed as the “golden standard” for media leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
In April, in collaboration with TPAA, Russian Designers Against AIDS kicked off a new session of Russian Fashion Week in Moscow highlighting the issue of HIV/AIDS during their fashion shows. Numerous designers created designs, information cards, red ribbons and t-shirts that reflected the severity of the disease and how it affects everyone.
In May, TPAA’s multi-media photography exhibition “Affects Me. Affects Everyone.” opened at the St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance as part of a new educational forum entitled, “HIV/AIDS through eyes of young people.” Over 13,000 students and 900 instructors attended the exhibition, as well as representatives from governmental agencies, the private sector and non-governmental organizations.
In May, TPAA awarded media fellowships to 12 outstanding Russian journalists within the framework of the 2007 Media Fellowship Program. TPAA’s Media Fellowship Program encourages in-depth coverage of people affected by HIV/AIDS and TB, including the status of these surging epidemics in Russia and Ukraine, HIV and TB co-infection, the growing impact of HIV on women, daily lives and human rights of people affected by HIV and TB, access to ARV treatment and availability of harm-reduction programs, among other sensitive topics. Within the program journalists produced 96 materials, as well as documentary film, that was broadcasted on December 1 on regional TV channels.
In May, on the eve of International AIDS Memorial Day, TPAA launched a new website and public initiative under the slogan “Let each heart say…” The new site invites people to share their opinions and feelings about HIV/AIDS and seeks to build solidarity in the fight against the disease, even among those who have not been personally affected by the epidemic.
In July, TPAA organized an interactive online discussion about HIV/AIDS in Ukraine. As part of the Ukrainian Media Partnership’s national public awareness campaign entitled, “StopAIDS: Affects Everyone”, the online conference was hosted on the website of the popular Ukrainian newspaper, E-NEWS. Participants learned about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ukraine, HIV transmission, the rights of those living with HIV and how to prevent the disease.
In October, Russian Designers Against AIDS presented another fashion show organized by Russian Fashion Week (RFW) and the StopAIDS Affects Everyone campaign, the latest fashion show presented the issue of HIV/AIDS to the RFW audience paying special attention to the aspects of personal protection against infection. Project participants included more than 13 designers and designer companies such as Darya Razumikhina, MainAim, Marmalade, SUDARYANTO, Arevik Simonyan, Kusso, Ruslan Gumennyy, Chistova&Endourova, Oleg Ovsiev, Anastasia Z, Max Chernitsov, Tatyana Kiseleva and Olga Deffi.
In November, the groundbreaking multimedia exhibition “Affects Me. Affects Every One.” of the StopSPID (StopAIDS) campaign opened at the Tyumen Museum of Fine Arts on the threshold of the World AIDS Day.
TPAA/GBC and Cosmopolitan magazine unveiled the results of a new survey of women and girls in Russia on the topic of HIV/AIDS. More than 1,000 Cosmo readers from 89 regions in Russia and the CIS participated in the survey; 90% of the women and girls surveyed were under the age of 30. The survey results were released in the December issue of Cosmopolitan.
In November, the annual All-Russia training for journalists covering HIV/AIDS was held on the threshold of World AIDS Day. More then 40 representatives of Media companies from different region of Russia attended the event. For the first time at a journalism training, a special session was held on the role of business in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
In 2007, GBC/TPAA held 13 trainings on HIV/AIDS and HIV-associated TB reporting for Russian and Ukrainian journalists – including seven regional trainings in St. Petersburg, Orenburg, Kazan, Nizhniy Novgorod, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Kyiv. Through these trainings, TPAA staff introduced more than 270 journalists to the common misconceptions about access to HIV/AIDS treatment and therapy, discussed issues of ethics in journalism and the social responsibility of journalists, and highlighted common errors when reporting on HIV/AIDS and TB-related issues.
As a result of this education, journalists produced more than 200 pieces of materials on HIV/AIDS – articles in newspapers and magazines, radio and TV programs. The most frequent subjects covered by journalists in their materials are analysis of epidemiologic situation in the country, questions of treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS and problems of tolerance of people living with HIV
During 2007, TPAA held educational and study tours for journalists:
Study Tour to Kiev, Ukraine for Russian journalists that provided participants with an opportunity to become acquainted with the work of Ukrainian GO’s and NGO in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Workshop for Eastern European Media on the Biomedical Aspects of HIV, Moscow, Russia. that was held by TPAA in partnership with the State Duma of the Russian Federation and World Health Organization (WHO)
With TPAA’s assistance representative of federal outlet Itogi magazine attended annual week-long workshop on «Reporting HIV/AIDS», New-York, USA, held by REUTERS.
In 2007 TPAA has launched the first-ever Media Fellowship on tuberculosis in Russia. In the framework of the program 3 journalists from federal and regional outlets received financial support for preparing TV programs and articles on TB issue.
TPAA and the Russian Union of Journalist launch of a new Association for journalists covering Public Health Issues aimed at improving the quality and frequency of reporting on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), virus hepatitis, and other important public health concerns. The new association’s activities will focus on raising awareness and building the capacity of Russian journalists and editors in the area of public health.
In 2007, TPAA developed and printed a manual for journalists covering HIV/AIDS issues in mass media. The material covers a broad range of subjects that could be useful for journalists who are preparing articles, TV and radio programs on this issue.
In 2007, TPAA developed and launched the Online Resource for journalists covering socially significant diseases www.infosmi.org. The resource will include updated epidemiological data on HIV/AIDS, TB, and hepatitis that is adapted to different audiences, news and analytical articles on these topics, an electronic version of TPAA’s journalist’s manual on covering HIV/AIDS, TB and other health issues in mass media, and information on relevant upcoming events.
