23 February 2007 -Today the Mogilev center for hygiene, epidemiology and public health hosted a ceremony of opening a youth informational and educational room on HIV/AIDS. From now on anyone can receive here professional consultation and get access to a set of educational services.

The room was set up under the “Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS in the Republic of Belarus” project implemented by UNDP in partnership with the Ministry of Health of Belarus and funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

As UNDP Programme Analyst, Anna Chernyshova, stated at the opening ceremony, ‘Nowadays AIDS not only takes lives of people, but also undermines national economies by depriving them of young labor force and drawing away the resources. Thus it is so important to unite the efforts at HIV/AIDS prevention, including the activities of rooms of this kind where both young people and their instructors can get professional advice’.

The Mogilev consulting room will expand opportunities for the local youth to meet with psychologists and priests, discuss HIV/AIDS-related issues, make use of printed and audio-video materials, do prevention work, and arrange events on the topic.

According to Deputy Head of the Mogilev center for hygiene, epidemiology and public health, Anatoly Chernyavsky, the room specialists will not only provide in-services, but will also take an active part in outreach seminars and actions in the districts of the Mogilev region.

The ceremony was attended by representatives of Mogilev regional executive committee education and culture departments, universities, mass media, and the National center for hygiene, epidemiology and public health. The latter shared the experience of the first HIV/AIDS information-educational room which was opened in December 2005 in Minsk.

Long since the Minsk room has been a resource center for all prevention specialists. The office provides premises for a volunteer club, where its members prepare an informational bulletin, update the website and work on the “hot line”.

Similar rooms are to be opened soon in Vitebsk and Gomel.

For further information please refer to Public Information Assistant of the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment project, Maria Malinovskaya, at 270-73-51, or UNDP Communications Associate Vladislav Khilkevich, at 227-38-17.

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