U.S. Officials Visit Orenburg HIV/AIDS Programs
On July 24-26, members of an U.S. Government interagency team visited health facilities and met with local government officials in the city of Orenburg and in Orsk, a smaller city in Orenburg Oblast. Members of the delegation included representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, USAID/Washington and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. The trip to Orenburg was part of a visit by members of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) core team for Russia. Orenburg Oblast is one of two PEPFAR focus regions in Russia; the U.S. government program is supporting a scale-up of integrated HIV/AIDS treatment and care in four locations in the oblast.
During their trip, the team visited a maternity hospital to learn about USG-supported efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. They also visited the Orsk and Orenburg AIDS Centers and local NGOs involved in HIV prevention through outreach to at-risk groups. The delegation met with Orenburg Vice Governor Nina Pivovarova and Orenburg Minister of Health Nikolai Komarov and participated in a videoconference call with the Office of Global AIDS Coordinator in Washington to discuss their field observations and the FY08 budget, which is threatened with a 25 percent cut. The visitors enthusiastically praised the work of the partners they visited and were especially impressed by the active participation of health NGOs in meeting with local officials. As one visitor remarked, “This is democracy in action.”
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| PEPFAR team members visiting a maternity hospital in Orsk |
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