Rapporteur report
KC 3: Intensifying involvement of affected individuals and communities report by Konstantin Lezhentsev
This satellite was focused on discussing main barriers and key challenges for equal access to HIV care and treatment for IDUs. It was also aimed at presenting best models and practices on how to effectively deliver care for IDUs, organize effective ARV utilization, adherence support in an integrated and comprehensive model of IDU care.
Joep Lange addressed the global issue of fear that many doctors still have in proposing treatment for IDUs, establishing their own criteria of who is eligible to treatment and who is not. Dr Lange also underlined that equal access to ARV for IDUs is not only a humanitarian issue but also important to effectively combat the epidemic. Adherence rates among most IDUs are the same and sometimes even better than in other categories of patients.
Sasha Volgina, activist and peer expert from Russia, presented a model on how PLWHAs/IDU community activism can lead to radical changes in national policy. The key problems are still constant interruptions of ARVs, lack of patient outreach and effective adherence support, treatment literacy work, Harm Reduction integration into treatment. Repressive drug policies, police harassment an illegal status of substitution treatment in Russia are still key barriers for access to prevention and treatment.
Michel Kazatchkine made a touching historical overview of his first IDU patient and reminded that evidence shows that doctors are unable to predict adherence. Mortality in IDU group is higher than in other groups, but it is also proven that it is not linked to the poorer response to HAART but due to co-infection, late HAART initiation and non-HIV related deaths. 20 years passed since Michel first met his first IDU patient Nestor and he can not believe that we are still advocating for the things that have been proven to be effective decades ago.
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