By Vladimir Zhovtyak, President, ECUO, an AIDS 2010 Organizing Partner.

The East Europe and Central Asia Union of PLWH (ECUO) brings together PLHIV communities and organizations from 14 countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) through our joint Russian language and one common goal. ECUO’s goal through 2025 is to ensure access to comprehensive treatment, care and support for adults and children living with HIV in EECA countries through effective partnership and actions of the PLHIV community. ECUO is the only organization in the world representing PLHIV from EECA.

We believe that the biggest forum on HIV/AIDS, which will be held in Vienna, close to our EECA region, will attract the attention of political leaders and donors to the specifics of HIV in our region, where the rate of new HIV infections is the highest in the world.

We believe that AIDS 2010 will provide an opportunity to demonstrate successes in the EECA region of progress toward universal access goals, thereby encouraging donors and world leaders to continue providing financial support for HIV/AIDS programmes and sustain the response to HIV.

We believe that the conference theme, Rights Here, Right Now, will encourage leaders and governments of our countries to participate personally in the process of overcoming the HIV epidemic in their countries and to provide political support for:

• rational use of resources from national budgets
• implementation of evidence-based strategies for combating HIV epidemic, particularly harm-reduction strategies.

ECUO will bring over 40 PLHIV and activists from the region to promote the visibility of PLHIV from EECA throughout AIDS 2010 through speeches, presentations and other activities.  

Please join us!

You can find more information at our booth (435) in the Exhibition Hall, the EECA Networking Zone in the Global Village and www.ecuo.org.