Press releases

Vinay Saldanha stressed that the global report on HIV/AIDS was presented some days ago. Today a total of 37 million people live with HIV. “It is a huge number. However, if we take a look at the epidemic scale and progress made in Belarus to combat it, we will see that AIDS has a very limited character in the country. I am more than confident that the ambitious goal to liquidate the AIDS epidemic will not just be reached in the country but it is more likely that Belarus will be the first country in the CIS that will call a halt to the spread of this disease,” he said.

The UN has been making every effort to end AIDS by 2030. “It requires a different approach, i.e. to encourage people to take a HIV test, learn about their health status and, if necessary, start treatment,” added Vinay Saldanha.

Deputy Health Minister, Chief State Sanitary Inspector Igor Gayevsky noted for his part that the Healthcare Ministry of Belarus is interested in the implementation of the UNAIDS 90-90-90 strategy, which envisages that by 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also joined the information campaign. UNICEF Deputy Representative in Belarus Irina Chutkova said: “We all sincerely want our children, our teenagers to be healthy. It means, among other things, regular HIV tests.”

The large-scale information campaign on HIV testing in Eastern Europe and Central Asia has been developed by the UNIADS Regional Bureau for Eastern Europe and Central Asia with the support of the UNESCO Office in Moscow and the UNICEF Office in Belarus.

World AIDS Day is annually marked on 1 December.