Belarus

Belarus continued to scale up HIV prevention, treatment and support services among vulnerable and key populations with strategic support from the Joint Programme. People living with HIV benefitted from improved clinical management of HIV thanks to the development of a new national HIV treatment guideline, which introduced high-quality treatment regimens, access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and implementation of rapid HIV diagnostic testing algorithms (WHO). More than 300 people at high risk of HIV accessed PrEP services during the initial phase of a pilot programme in Minsk—demonstrating a high demand among key populations, especially men who have sex with men. Results from the pilot programme assessment were also incorporated into the national HIV strategy for scaling up PrEP services across the country (UNFPA, WHO, UNAIDS Secretariat).  

As part of the TravelforLife education initiative, more than 3500 young people from 15 cities and smaller towns improved their knowledge of HIV and other STIs prevention, safe online behaviour and reduction of violence and substance use through a comprehensive training package. The project also empowered 54 champions to conduct peer trainings on these issues. These initial accomplishments further enabled BelAU—a nongovernmental organization implementing the project—to secure government funding for the next two years (UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNAIDS Secretariat). In addition, more than 500 adolescents in 10 cities coordinated 10 volunteer initiatives to reach out to Ukrainian adolescents about HIV prevention (UNICEF, UNAIDS Secretariat).