Publication: HIV/AIDS in Southeastern Europe : Case Studies from Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania
Date
2003-05
ISSN
Published
2003-05
Author(s)
Abstract
In June 2002, the countries of
Southeastern Europe (SEE) recommitted themselves to scale up
action on the prevention and treatment of Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome (AIDS). Given the rapid increase in the rate of HIV
infection in Eastern Europe in general, and the generally
similar risk conditions for low HIV prevalence SEE
populations, this commitment is timely in terms of
preventing a more widespread epidemic. It should also be
recognized by the World Bank as a call to action to support
these countries through the application of its comparative
advantage in both lending and non-lending activities. The
purpose of this paper is to review the current status of the
AIDS epidemics in three countries of the Sub-region
(Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania - which constitute the ECC05
Country Department of the World Bank), to evaluate the
approaches and strategies currently being used in each
country, and to make recommendations both for government
strategies and for the Bank's current and potential
future involvement in relation to these strategies. The
current low levels of HIV infection in SEE present a
challenge in gaining recognition of the potential impact of
HIV/AIDS on health systems, social structures, and
individuals. Moreover, the approach to HIV/AIDS in SEE is
complicated by relatively high levels of stigma against
vulnerable groups (intravenous drug users [IDU], commercial
sex workers [CSW], ethnic minorities such as the Roma,
mobile populations, and men who have sex with men [MSM]).
Citation
“Novotny, Thomas; Haazen, Dominic; Adeyi, Olusoji. 2003. HIV/AIDS in Southeastern Europe : Case Studies from Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania. World Bank Working Paper;No. 4. © Washington, DC: World Bank. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/5ed97da5-09f6-5240-85fc-0241e2a40428 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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