History of the Partnerships Program
The idea of collaboration between the two countries in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention was first suggested at one of the meetings of The Health Committee of the Gore-Chernomyrdin Comission in 1997. As the first step in this direction, a delegation of Russian specialists visited the USA in March 1998. In the same year USAID developed HIV/AIDS Strategy for Russia one of the components of which became the Partnerships Program.
As one part of the coordinated response to the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in Russia, the Partnerships Program has been designed to respond to the critical public health need for HIV/AIDS prevention activities in Russia at the local level. It is targeted at high risk groups and should ultimately contribute to the achievement of the USAID Strategic Objective "Improved Effectiveness of Selected Social Services". In HIV/AIDS context the effectiveness of services is determined by prevention work. This objective will be achieved through the following intermediate results: (1) Improved capacity to deliver services to reduce STI/HIV/AIDS transmission in selected vulnerable populations and, in particular, (2) Improved local capacity to design, implement and evaluate HIV/AIDS prevention programs.
The first round of the Program was (is) designed for two-year period. Management responsibilities were (are) assigned to the Population Services International (PSI). The target regions for the first round of the Program are South-West of Moscow and Saratov Oblast.
Moscow
Russian Partner: Charitable Foundation "No to Alcoholism and Drug Addiction" (NAN) - non-
profit non-governmental organization established in 1987 and aimed at introduction of healthy behaviours in the society as a national priority.
American Partner: Lower East Side Harm Reduction Center (LESHRC) - a grassroots, volunteer
driven community based organization established in New York in 1990 and operating on Manhattan's Lower East Side to prevent HIV/AIDS among injection drug users; one of the first organizations that received governmental permission to legally conduct a Needle Exchange Program, which helped significantly decrease HIV-infection rate in the area.
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