Russia: AIDS Healthcare Foundation to Join Three Respected Saint-Petersburg Partners in Innovative New HIV Testing and ARV Treatment Collaboration

Group to Formalize Agreement in Signing Ceremony in Moscow Wednesday, October 28

Partnership of AHF, Saint-Petersburg Government Healthcare Institution`s Center
for Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases; AIDS, Statistics, Health, a
Regional NGO; and Saint-Petersburg Government Healthcare Institution`s
Policlinic N109 Will Bring Patient-centered Access to Testing, Medical Care and
Antiretroviral Treatment Via a New Outpatient Center in Frunzensky District,
Saint-Petersburg
MOSCOW--(Business Wire)--
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), Saint-Petersburg Government Healthcare
Institution`s Center for Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases; AIDS,
Statistics, Health, a respected regional non-governmental organization (NGO);
and Saint-Petersburg Government Healthcare Institution`s Policlinic N109 are
honored to announce that they are forming an innovative new partnership to
provide free HIV testing and prevention services and HIV/AIDS medical care in
Saint-Petersburg, Russia`s second largest city. Medical care will include the
provision of lifesaving antiretroviral treatment (ART) to people living with
HIV/AIDS via a newly established outpatient HIV unit created by the partnership
and located at the City Policlinic N109 in Frunzensky District,
Saint-Petersburg. The partnership will be recognized and celebrated in a formal
signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Saint-Petersburg on
Wednesday October 28th.

The MOU will be signed by Dr. Jorge Saavedra, Chief of Global Affairs for AIDS
Healthcare Foundation; Professor Nikolai Belyakov, Academician of the Russian
Medical Academy of Science, Director of St-Petersburg City AIDS Center;
Professor Aza Rakhmanova, head of the regional NGO, `AIDS, Statistics, Health,`
and Dr. M.B. Fridman, Chief Physician for City Policlinic N109. The partnership
will address the urgent need for continuous provision of broad-scale access to
antiretroviral treatment, HIV testing and counseling as well as for support
services to persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) based on a patient-centered
approach. As a result of the project`s implementation, PLWH will have the
ability to receive ART closer to their place of residence and they will not need
to travel to another part of the city to do tests and get regular check-ups-they
can access all these services at the Frunzensky center. This will support better
adherence to treatment and help both patients and medical providers better
manage the chronic illness. In addition, this approach will help to better
address referrals to other services when needed on a district level.

"It is a great privilege for AIDS Healthcare Foundation to join together with
our esteemed partners in Saint-Petersburg to establish this innovative new
facility which will provide HIV testing, antiretroviral treatment, medical care
and support services for people living with HIV/AIDS," said Dr. Jorge Saavedra,
Chief of Global Affairs for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "The primary goal of
this collaboration is to provide convenient access to such lifesaving services
using a more patient-centered approach. Through this partnership, we hope to
expand the number of people living with HIV/AIDS on treatment, and toward that
goal, we envision the creation of additional outpatient and HIV and chronic
viral diseases prevention units in other districts of Saint-Petersburg in the
future."

In addition to AHF`s Dr. Saavedra, AHF Senior Vice President Peter Reis and Zoya
Shabarova, HIV/AIDS Adviser, Eastern Europe for AHF will attend and participate
in the signing ceremony.

HIV/AIDS in Saint-Petersburg
Currently nearly 34,000 people with HIV are officially registered in
Saint-Petersburg and approximately 3,300 patients are receiving antiretroviral
treatment. In Frunzensky District-where the new partnership will have its first
testing and treatment facility-there are 1,500 people with HIV officially
registered, including 170 patients on ART.

"The approval of this new partnership is a major milestone for each organization
involved, and we are eager to implement the care and treatment activities
outlined in the memorandum of understanding," said Zoya Shabarova, AHF`s
HIV/AIDS Adviser for Eastern Europe, who was instrumental in coordinating the
collaboration in Saint-Petersburg. "It is our wish that this inaugural
outpatient testing and treatment facility in Frunzensky District,
Saint-Petersburg-AHF`s first antiretroviral treatment site in Russia-will be the
first of many in the partnership, and we hope that it may also serve as a symbol
of hope for the possibility of access to lifesaving treatment for many of those
living with HIV/AIDS in Russia today."

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization,
currently provides medical care or services to more than 129,000 individuals in
22 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia
Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. www.aidshealth.org

RUSSIA
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Zoya Shabarova
HIV/AIDS Adviser, Eastern Europe
323-217-2869
zoya.shabarova@aidshealth.org
or
UNITED STATES
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Ged Kenslea
Communications Director
323-791-5526
gedk@aidshealth.org

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