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AIHA Joins Forces with Russian Red Cross to Improve Reproductive Health in Irkutsk Prisons
March 29, 2007

 


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Jurkevich, Inna
Program Officer
AIHA/Washington, DC
Tel. 202.789.1136
ijurkevich@aiha.com

Kubataev, Arsen
Regional Director
AIHA Russia
Tel. (7-495) 250-3072
a.kubataev@aiha.ru


 
Project Focuses on Training Care Providers at Women’s Detention Centers, Raising Inmate Awareness of Key Health Issues


WASHINGTON, DC, March 29, 2007—The American International Health Alliance (AIHA) is collaborating with the Red Cross National Society of the Russian Federation (RRC) and various governmental and nongovernmental healthcare providers to improve the quality of reproductive health services for women in two Irkutsk Oblast penal colonies in Eastern Siberia. Located 120 kilometers from Irkutsk City in the village of Bozoi, both facilities house a total of 1,804 women—20 percent of whom are HIV-positive.

RRC, which has considerable experience in the provision of social support services for incarcerated populations, has an agreement with Russia’s Federal Department of Corrections to provide educational programs focused on the prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted infections in the country’s prisons and detention centers.

AIHA, RRC, and other partners are working to improve the quality of reproductive health services provided to inmates by training and mentoring medical and non-medical personnel who work in both correctional settings and local institutions that provide specialized care to   prisoners. Other priorities include educating inmates about reproductive health issues, improving diagnostic and treatment capacity, and developing transition plans for women prior to release.

Albany Medical Center’s AIDS Program (AMCAP) and its Center of Excellence in HIV Correctional Health Care will provide technical assistance for the project. AIHA and AMCAP have already developed several courses on the provision of ART and management of opportunistic infections for incarcerated populations and have conducted four courses in Belarus and Ukraine.



Created in 1992 by a consortium of major healthcare provider associations andprofessionalmedical education organizations, AIHA establishes and manages programs and twinning partnerships between health-related institutions in the United States and their counterparts in Africa, Asia, Eurasia, and the Caribbean. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), funded by the American people, provides economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries to provide a better future for all.

 

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