Project title

The main goal of the project is to increase the accessibility and quality of the HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment and social services for the IDUs in Kėdainiai region.

Project objectives:

• To equip consultation / social work room, to install a place for test making and two educational occupation work places in pharmacotherapy cabinet.
• To organize individual and group psychologist consultations for pharmacotherapy patients and their family members.
• To inform service recipients and make HIV, hepatitis, syphilis tests.
• To provide needle and syringe exchange, prevention and disinfection commodities through outreach workers in higher risk areas.
• To organize consultations for personnel.
• To spread information in the media, local TV, internet.
• To implement harm reduction advocacy in the meetings with law enforcement and municipality delegates and politicians.

Implementing the project a separate room for meetings/social work, psychological support working individually with service recipients and applying case management was established in Kėdainiai Primary Health Care Centre pharmacotherapy cabinet. Most frequent consulting and discussion topics were: patient's family problems, unemployment and job searches, financial issues, legal problems and health education. During those meetings clients were provided with the information on HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, hepatitis C and B, their prevention and consequences of non-treatment, drugs impact for the human, long-term and short-term drug use results.

Project activities helped to increase IDUs' privity on provided services and on pharmacotherapy. Pharmacotherapy cabinet now works longer therefore the accessibility to the services is increasing also. This was confirmed by the increased number of pharmacotherapy programme participants (from 4 to 11). All patients were tested for HIV, 12 of them were tested for hepatitis and syphilis. New 3 HIV cases alarmed not only medical personnel, but as well representatives from the municipality. Additional measures for better privity of region's habitants took place, discussions were initiated, and municipality doctor visited pharmacotherapy cabinet.

Mobile low threshold services were provided by the social worker who worked together with the volunteer IDU. Voluneet finished rehabilitation in Addictive disorders rehabilitation community and participated in 16 hour training "Social work with people having dependencies". Mobile services helped to change needles and syringes anonymously, and to receive disinfection and prevention commodities for IDUs who did not come to pharmacotherapy cabinet.

During the project time a meeting was held with the Kaunas Police Commissariat Kėdainiai Department staff in order to clarify and share information on IDUs, drugs distribution places, etc. Additionally the issues related to the pharmacotherapy continuation in the arrest houses and treatment possibilities after return from the imprisonment settings were discussed. Together with the Kaunas Public Health Centre Kėdainiai Department personnel the results of the implemented harm reduction services were analysed and the most needed prevention directions were identified. Implementing project social workers actively cooperated with the personnel from Kėdainiai Social Centre's Lodging house, rehabilitation community "Vilties švyturys", Kėdainiai Region Municipality's Children Rights Protection Department. Information was actively disseminated in local media and on internet.

Main indicators:

• Number of patients in the pharmacotherapy - 14 (3 dropped out and did not continue treatment);
• Number of needles and syringed distributed per year - 300;
• Number of needles and syringed collected per year - 500;
• Number of IDUs tested for HIV/AIDS - 14 (4 positive);
• Number of IDUs tested for hepatitis - 12 (7 positive);
• Number of IDUs tested for syphilis - 12;
• Number of individuals who used the outreach worker services per year -20;
• Number of individuals who received information on pharmacotherapy and HIV/AIDS prevention and care per year - 20;
• Number of consulted programme participants - 6;
• Number of articles in local media - 2;
• Number of articles on the internet - 2;
• Number of leaflets for the clients - 100.

UNODC budget