#SOS_Project: Partnership for Sustainable HIV/AIDS Prevention Policies

From 2019 to 2021, the Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation (RAA) and its partners will support public authorities in improving access and efficiency in HIV prevention and treatment service models. RAA will coordinate a national advocacy campaign aimed at enhancing the financial sustainability and effectiveness of HIV/AIDS prevention programs in Romania. The premise is that the right to HIV prevention and treatment for vulnerable individuals in Romania is a fundamental right.

This effort is part of the #SOS_Project program, funded by the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The program operates in 14 Eastern European and Central Asian countries (Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan), under the coordination of the Alliance for Public Health Foundation from Ukraine.

We will develop an advocacy campaign based on studies regarding the behavioral profile of the HIV-affected population, the efficiency and cost of basic prevention services, and contribute to the adoption of a multi-sectoral mechanism for financing NGOs providing support and prevention services.

Over the three years of the project, we will propose quality standards and minimum cost standards for support and prevention services for people with HIV.

We will lead an advocacy campaign to institutionalize these standards and secure funding (from either local or central authorities) for support and prevention programs, as well as a public campaign to gain allies among NGOs and the general public.

The main public institutions targeted by the project are the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labor and Social Justice, the Ministry of Finance, and local authorities across the country.