ECOM at AIDS 2024: Key Points

ECOM – The Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity (ECOM) took part in the 25th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2024), held in Munich from July 22 to 26, 2024. This global annual event is an important platform for discussing current issues in the field of HIV/AIDS.

ECOM representatives held a number of significant sessions and presentations covering a wide range of topics. Nikolay Lunchenkov, LGBT Health Coordinator, spoke at the pre-conference as part of the international chemsex symposium, raising the current topic of substance use in a sexual context.

Vitaly Djuma, Executive Director of ECOM, took part in a roundtable discussion on the future of the fight against AIDS in conditions unfavorable for civil society. This discussion highlighted the importance of preserving and expanding opportunities for the work of the non-governmental sector in the context of HIV/AIDS response.

“The International AIDS Conference is the largest event in the global movement against HIV. This is a place for direct exchange of information and experience, so it's important for ECOM to participate in such an event in order to keep up with global development trends. This year the conference is held in Germany, which is traditionally associated with the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region. And it was important for us to use this moment to draw the world's attention to our community and our region. Now in EECA there is an extremely difficult period: in addition to Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, in many countries there is a reactionary suppression of the rights of LGBT people, as well as infringement of the freedoms of civil society in general. We need to talk about this with donors and partners from other regions to learn from experiences of resistance, and to attract the global community to our fight against laws that violate the rights of the LGBT community in the EECA region. But besides this, AIDS 2024 is also an opportunity for ECOM to present its achievements in the field of rights and health of LGBT people, and we have a lot of them. And it's important for us to talk about them and share our experience with colleagues from other countries,” says Vitaly Djuma, Executive Director of ECOM.

During the conference, the poster presentation by Tina Sobko, Communications Officer at ECOM, attracted special attention. It was about the successful TikTok campaign “We are alike”. This innovative initiative, aimed at increasing the visibility of the trans community, achieved impressive results, reaching millions of users and helping to change public perception.

Nikolay Lunchenkov also held a session dedicated to the life of gay and bisexual men in the EECA region, touching on the availability of PrEP, the problem of chemsex and the importance of human rights in the context of sexuality. In a poster presentation, he presented the results of a study on sexual violence among PrEP users in Ukraine, highlighting the high level of risk and difficult conditions faced by members of the LGBT community, especially in the context of the ongoing war.

“Participation in the AIDS 2024 conference on the scale at which ECOM participated indicates that health issues for LGBT people in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region have reached a new level. We managed to attract the attention of the world community to one of the most difficult regions, which has one of the most difficult HIV situations in the world. After all, as we know, our region is experiencing the fastest growth in new cases of HIV compared to other regions, which means the time to act was yesterday, and we are sorely lacking resources to resolve this issue,” says Nikolay Lunchenkov, LGBT Health Coordinator at ECOM.

Vitaly Djuma also held a session on community responses to humanitarian crises in the CEECA region, with a particular focus on supporting key populations in wartime conditions in Ukraine. The meeting was co-organized by Aidsfonds. During the session, ECOM and local NGOs shared best support practices under the Emergency Support Fund aimed at reducing the negative impact of the Russian war against Ukraine on key populations' access to HIV services and humanitarian aid in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

In addition, ECOM experts took part in an important side event organized by UNAIDS, where they discussed the critical role of civil society and human rights observance in ensuring effective public health and HIV response in the Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia region.

The AIDS 2024 conference became a unique platform that brought together scientists, politicians, healthcare professionals, people living with HIV, representatives of the media and communities. More than 15,000 people joined the event in various formats. ECOM's participation in the conference highlighted the need for a comprehensive approach to HIV/AIDS issues that would take into account the rights and needs of the LGBT community. The organization demonstrated innovative ways of working and emphasized the importance of taking into account humanitarian crises when planning HIV programs.

For ECOM, this event provided an opportunity to share its experience, present study findings and make a meaningful contribution to the global dialogue on the health and rights of the LGBT community in the context of HIV/AIDS.