Montenegro

December 1st, World AIDS Day in Montenegro

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Welfare of Montenegro, the Institute of Public Health, representatives of the United Nations System in Montenegro and NGO CAZAS as representative of the NGO sector in Montenegro have jointly organized a media conference to mark World AIDS Day.

World AIDS Day is marked this year through promotion of the theme “STOP AIDS. Keep the promise. Take the Lead”. Since the beginning of the epidemic, experience has clearly demonstrated that significant advances in the response to HIV/AIDS have been achieved where there is a strong and committed leadership. Leaders are distinguished by their action, innovation and vision, their personal example and engagement of others. However, leadership should be demonstrated at every level of society - in families, communities, countries and internationally.

“Montenegro is a signatory to several major documents and declarations on commitment to fight HIV/AIDS and provision of accessible services for prevention, treatment, care and support to every person living with HIV. The Millennium Development Goal to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases calls for halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, by 2015, and for achieving universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it, by 2010. We are also fortunate in Montenegro to have strong leaders, committed to meeting the goals, and well established national mechanisms to coordinate the response to the epidemic,” said Ms. Noala Skinner, Chair of the UN Theme Group for HIV/AIDS.

Ms. Skinner also reminded that AIDS is still one of the top ten causes of death worldwide. “The challenge now is to sustain leadership. We have to build on what we have started. We have to make real headway against the fundamental drivers of this epidemic, especially gender inequality, and stigma and discrimination. This challenge is perhaps the greatest of all. Stigma and discrimination is stopping so many people from learning how to prevent HIV and get treatment. And we need resources - enough to provide services that will have a real impact in communities and on entire nations. The need to lead, empower and deliver on AIDS is as real and urgent as ever,” Ms. Skinner concluded.

“Today in Montenegro there are 41 registered HIV infection cases, and 16 persons have developed AIDS,” said Doc. Dr Miodrag Radunović, Minister of Health, Labour and Social Welfare, President of the Country Coordinating Mechanism. “However, we should not be deceived by these data. Based on the methodology of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Institute for Public Health made an estimation that there are 388 persons living with HIV, out of which 24% are women. This shows that the problem is far more serious,” Minister Radunović warned. He also said that the Montenegrin HIV/AIDS Strategy provides guidelines for further activities on prevention of this epidemic. “Projects funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria ensured the implementation of an unified, integrated and efficient response to HIV/AIDS,” Minister Radunović pointed out. He also announced that the funds for the construction of a new infectious diseases clinic within the Clinical Center of Montenegro (where people with HIV/AIDS receive treatment) will be provided by 2010, and its construction should be finalised by 2012.

Dr Boban Mugoša, Director of Institute for Public Health, Vice President of the Country Coordinating Mechanism emphasised that the HIV virus is usually transmitted sexually (82%), out of which - 51% heterosexually and 31% bisexually, whereas high risk groups are men who have sex with men (31%), sailors (19%), and tourism/hospitality workers (14%). Dr Mugoša also stated that so far only one case of mother-to-child HIV transmission has been registered in Montenegro and he announced that the strategy for prevention of that type of transmission would be prepared next year.

“I am proud to say that it in Montenegro nobody ever received a transfusion of infected blood, and not just infected with HIV but with any of the agents monitored,” Dr Mugoša emphasised, pointing out the extreme importance of the fact that there are no HIV positive persons among the intravenous drug users (IDUs). “However, 65% of IDUs are infected with hepatitis C, which shows how dangerous it would be if HIV would spread among that population,” Dr Mugoša concluded.

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The United Nations Theme Group (UN TG) on HIV/AIDS was established in Montenegro in July 2006 and since then has been contributing to the unified national response to HIV/AIDS through its UNAIDS Programme Acceleration Funds (PAF). The UN TG supported the preparation of the Report of the Universal access plan and Mid-Term Review on the National HIV/AIDS Strategy in Montenegro. This Report recognizes the areas of the highest achievements and points out the areas where activities should be intensified and improved, with an aim to give guidelines on how to make a stronger response to this disease.

The United Nations Theme Group (UN TG) on HIV/AIDS  is comprised of the representatives of UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), UNHCR (The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), UNICEF (The United Nations Children's Fund), WHO (World Health Organization), and IOM (International Organization for Migration), the invited member of the UN Country Team in Montenegro. 

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UN TG on HIV/AIDS, together with its partners from National AIDS Commission, is making an effort to contribute to the joint national response to HIV and AIDS, in line with the 6th Millennium Development Goal to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

The UN calls, among other things, for: Setting human rights targets for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, while building capacity to collect disaggregated data; Getting public figures to speak out against stigma, discrimination, gender inequality, violence against women, harmful traditional practices and their relevance to HIV; Supporting people living with HIV to know and claim their rights; Capacity building around human rights and gender in relation to HIV through training of healthcare workers, social workers, law enforcement and other officials in order to have a positive and immediate improvement in the lives of people living with HIV; Encouraging a review of sexual and reproductive health curricula in schools, engaging educators, government officials, people living with HIV, and representatives of youth organisations; Encouraging law review and reform, and work with police and judges to address barriers to HIV prevention; Promoting access to treatment for communities that are marginalized or excluded.