俄羅斯愛滋慈善機構面臨資金和供應危機
資抖來源:2022 年 4 月 5 日 / 莫斯科時報 / aidsmap news / 財團法人台灣紅絲帶基金會編譯
圖:莫斯科通訊社
愛滋活動人士和運動家們說,西方的制裁和經濟的危機導源自入侵烏克蘭,正在阻礙俄羅斯的愛滋病毒/愛滋病慈善機構,這有可能使得本已嚴重的流行病更惡化。
一家地區愛滋病慈善機構的負責人告訴《莫斯科時報》:「我們買不到很多我們習慣購買的東西」。 「保險套的價格上漲了五倍……我們可以花 200 盧布(2 美元)購買的 HIV 檢測現在要花 1,500 盧布(18 美元)」。
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目前,俄羅斯 1.46 億人口中約有 1% 是 HIV 陽性,感染率的增長速度快於大多數西方國家。
由於難以獲得藥物、測試和保險套藥具,俄羅斯的愛滋病死亡人數似乎將上升。
與受苦於愛滋病毒/愛滋病影響的人合作的俄羅斯慈善機構,傳統上從國際的基金中獲得大量資金支持,特別是總部位於英國的埃爾頓.約翰愛滋病基金會 (Elton John AIDS Foundation , EJAF) 和世界銀行資助的全球基金。
但慈善工作者表示,西方對俄羅斯的制裁以及隨著在莫斯科入侵烏克蘭後國際資金轉移遇到的困難,已經造成後勤補給混亂,並引起對未來外國資金的質疑。
「我們過去每半年從埃爾頓.約翰基金會收到一次資金……但由於目前情況不明,變成我們每月收到一次」,烏拉爾一家愛滋病支持之慈善機構的負責人說。他的慈善機構從 EJAF 和全球基金獲得大量資金。
EJAF 的一位發言人拒絕評論該組織未來在俄羅斯的工作,理由是擔心員工安全。
「毫無疑問,情況會變得更糟。所有這一切,我認為這很可怕,因為我在這個領域生活和工作了很長時間,我清楚地看到了藥品供應中斷的問題」,一位在舊蘇聯末期開始與愛滋病毒患者一起工作,現在是莫斯科附近一個愛滋病支持組織的負責人。
HIV 快速檢測試劑,包括該活動組織所使用進口的口腔粘膜快篩試劑 OraQuick 和 Abbott 試劑盒,可以提供快速和保密的 HIV 篩查,並避免更耗時且昂貴的血液檢測。
「我認為反應物測試會有問題,因為這些都是進口的。我們從日本、韓國和美國購買它們」,這位慈善工作者說。
許多人擔心,在 2020-2021 年冠狀病毒封鎖期間所觀察到的行為模式可能會重複。
「所有最大的家具、汽車、宜家、材料等生產公司都在離開俄羅斯,留下失業的人。失業的人做什麼?他們會感到壓力,壓力等於酒精,酒精會導致性行為——沒有保險套的性行為。或者是毒品,再次導致不使用保險套的性行為」,一位聖彼得堡的愛滋病活動家說。
這位活動人士補充說,他的愛滋病工作面臨問題,因為他工作的組織已被俄羅斯政府指定為「外國代理人」。「外國代理人」的身份並不會阻止組織的運作,但會增加官僚主義上的要求並使籌款複雜化。
「俄羅斯再次開始認定外國代理人,並再次開始了一場獵巫之政治迫害,這將導致對各種金融非常嚴格的控制」,他說。
面對對外國資金日益增長的威脅,一些慈善機構正在尋求將優先事項轉向國內資金流。
「到目前為止,我們所有的資金都來自國外。即使它來自俄羅斯組織,也同樣係來自外國捐助者」,東西方愛滋病基金會主任維多利亞.多倫說。 「[但]不久前,我們得出的結論是,我們需要審視我們的財務平衡,並在國內和政府之間開展更多工作」。
多倫還希望企業也可以被招募來幫助陷入困境的愛滋病毒/愛滋病慈善機構提供資金。
「愛滋病毒問題是一個社會人口問題。如果我們在這裡找到正確的角度,那麼有能力的企業可能會感興趣」,她說。
接受《莫斯科時報》採訪的大多數活動人士表示,俄羅斯似乎正處於新的愛滋病毒/愛滋病危機的門檻上。在不確定性和經濟危機時期,愛滋病毒感染率也往往會上升——一些人預測俄羅斯今年的國內生產總值將收縮多達 15%。
與過去的經濟危機不同,俄羅斯已經陷入了愛滋病毒的流行。 2020 年俄羅斯有 32,000 例與愛滋病毒相關的死亡。甚至在與烏克蘭的戰爭爆發之前,人口統計學家就估計,到 2030 年,俄羅斯的愛滋病毒死亡率可能會超過癌症死亡率。
俄羅斯政府也沒有提供太多幫助,該政府往往專注於宣傳「傳統價值觀」,更甚於在預防措施、安全性行為活動、教育和藥癮者之替代療法等方面。
Russian HIV Charities Face Funding, Supply Crisis
April 5, 2022 / Moscow Times
Moskva News Agency
Western sanctions and an economic crisis resulting from the invasion of Ukraine are hindering Russia’s HIV/AIDS charities, activists and campaigners say, in what risks worsening an already grave epidemic.
“We can’t buy many of the things that we are used to buying,” the head of one regional AIDS charity told The Moscow Times. “The price of condoms has increased five times… [and] tests for HIV that we could buy for 200 rubles ($2) now cost 1,500 rubles ($18).”
About 1% of Russia’s population of 146 million is currently HIV positive, and infection rates are growing faster than in most Western countries.
With difficulties obtaining drugs, tests and contraceptives, AIDS deaths in Russia look set to rise.
Russian charities working with those affected by HIV/AIDS sufferers have traditionally received significant financial support from international funds, in particular the U.K.-based Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) and the World Bank-financed Global Fund.
But the Western sanctions on Russia and subsequent difficulties with international money transfers following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine have caused logistics chaos and raised questions about the future of foreign funding, charity workers say.
“We used to receive funds from the Elton John Fund once every half a year… but because the situation is unclear at the moment we receive them once a month,” said the head of an AIDS support charity based in the Urals. His charity receives large amounts from the EJAF and Global Fund.
A spokesperson for the EJAF declined to comment on the future of the organization’s work in Russia, citing concerns for staff safety.
“It will get worse, no question. I think that it’s very scary, all of this, because I’ve lived and worked in this sphere for a long time, and I see that clearly there’s a problem with an interruption of drug supplies,” said one charity worker who began working with HIV patients in the final years of the Soviet Union and is now the head of an AIDS support organization operating near Moscow.
HIV express test kits, including imported OraQuick and Abbott kits used by this campaigner’s organization, provide quick and confidential HIV screening and avoid more time-consuming — and expensive — blood tests.
“I think there will be problems with tests with reactants, because these are all imported. We purchase them from Japan, Korea and the United States,” the charity worker said.
Many fear there could be a repeat of patterns of behavior observed during the coronavirus lockdowns of 2020-2021.
“All the biggest production firms for furniture, cars, IKEA, materials etc. are exiting Russia and leaving behind unemployed people. And what do unemployed people do? They get stressed, stress equals alcohol, and alcohol leads to sex – sex without a condom. Or it’s drugs, which again leads to sex without a condom,” said a St. Petersburg-based AIDS activist.
The activist added that his AIDS work was facing problems because the organization he worked for had been designated a “foreign agent” by the Russian government. The “foreign agent” status does not prevent an organization from operating, but it increases bureaucratic requirements and complicates fundraising.
“Russia has started to recognize foreign agents again and has again started a witch hunt, and this will lead to very strict control of all kinds of finance,” he said.
In the face of the growing threat to foreign funding, some charities are seeking to shift priorities toward domestic money streams.
“Until now, all of our funding was from abroad. Even if it came from a Russian organization, all the same it was from a foreign donor,” said Victoria Dollen, the director of the AIDS Foundation East-West. “[But] a little while ago we came to the conclusion that we need to look at our balance for finance, and work more within the country and with the government.”
Dollen was also hopeful that businesses could also be recruited to help provide funding for struggling HIV/AIDS charities.
“The HIV problem is a demographic problem. If we get the right angle here, then competent, corporate business could be interested,” she said.
Most activists interviewed by The Moscow Times said Russia appeared to be on the threshold of a new HIV/AIDS crisis. HIV infection rates also tend to rise in times of uncertainty and economic crisis — and some predict Russia’s GDP will contract as much as 15% this year.
Unlike past economic crises, Russia is already in the grip of an HIV epidemic. There were 32,000 HIV-related deaths in Russia in 2020. Even before the outbreak of the war with Ukraine, demographers estimated that Russia’s HIV mortality could overtake the cancer mortality rate by 2030.
Nor is much help expected from the Russian government, which tends to focus on promoting “traditional values” over prophylactic measures, safe sex campaigns, education, and substitution therapy for drug addicts.