On November 30, ahead of World AIDS Day, members of the National Consortium on HIV Response the “Real World, Real People” NGO, “Potential of Awakening” NGO, and “Pink” human rights defender NGO, organized a national conference called “Joining Efforts: New Challenges for Vulnerable Groups Towards HIV” at the National Center for Infectious Diseases, which aimed at identification of the problems of people living with HIV and the most at-risk population towards HIV in Armenia and look for ways of resolving these problems.
As of the 1st half of 2021, the number of HIV registered cases in the country is 4366, including 3029 men and 1337 women. In Armenia, HIV is mostly transmitted through heterosexual intercourse (72,8%), followed by injection drug-use (18%) and through homosexual intercourse(5,4%).
During the conference, representatives of state bodies and NGOs presented the overall situation of HIV/AIDS in Armenia, as well as the human rights violations against the people living with HIV, including migrants, reported by organizations in 2020-2021, as well as the studies on the community problems and needs of drug users. Pink’s executive director and communications director spoke about the issues of migrants living with HIV and LGBT people, and the lawyer presented the human rights situation of LGBT people in Armenia, particularly in the field of healthcare.
Cases of discrimination based on HIV status, and sexual orientation or gender identity, the impact of COVID-19, and the war on various spheres of life of vulnerable groups, including on access to healthcare, were discussed. At the end of the conference, the organizations presented recommendations for solving the problems of vulnerable groups.
Representatives of state, international and local organizations, as well as PLHIV, drug users, and LGBT people participated in the meeting.
The reports are available in Armenian.