Programme Title: HIV Prevention and Care

Background

The UNODC Country Office Iran (COIRA) is a cosponsor of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in the country. The HIV/AIDS unit of UNODC COIRA functions under the global programme of HIV Prevention and Care, coordinated and lead by the headquarters office in Vienna and is under the direct supervision of the Representative. In collaboration with the main national counterparts in Iran such as Drug Control Headquarters, Prisons Organization, Ministry of Health, State Welfare Organization, and NGOs, the HIV/AIDS unit focuses on the following fields:

-        Technical support to NGOs and CBOs providing prevention, care, and treatment services to drug users, specifically injecting drug users (IDUs); HIV positive drug users and to prisoners;

-        Technical guidance and policy advice to the Government of I.R. Iran on the three UNODC HIV/AIDS key policy and programmatic areas, namely HIV/AIDS prevention and care related to (a) drug dependence, particularly injecting drug use (b) prison settings and (c) the trafficking in human beings;

-        Trying to reduce stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and drug use through raising the knowledge on HIV/AIDS among the community, health system, NGOs and the affected populations themselves;

-        Assistance to the UNODC Country Office for Iran in developing, implementing, and mainstreaming of strategies which effectively deal with HIV/AIDS prevention and care among IDUs in the community and in prison setting;

-        Cooperation with other UNAIDS cosponsor agencies in carrying out UNAIDS policies and strategies in the country;

Government policy, strategy and plans

In Iran like in many other countries, the HIV control programme among drug users and in prisons, was developed following a demand to address a rapidly spreading HIV epidemic among Injecting Drug Users (IDUs). This epidemic was first detected in 1997 in two prisons but after a short while, injecting drug use in the community also became an important driver. The estimate of HIV prevalence among IDUs is about 15-20% so Iran is classified among countries with concentrated epidemic, driven mainly by IDUs.

Having faced this serious issue, the Government has taken outstanding steps in regard to HIV/AIDS prevention and care among IDUs and in prison settings during recent years. Providing a comprehensive package of services including Needle and Syringe Programme; Opioid substitution Treatment, Voluntary counseling and Testing; and Condom Promotion Programme has made Iran a pioneer country in the region and also among Islamic countries. The close collaboration of NGOs and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) with the government is one of the main bases for this achievement.

Despite the remarkable progresses made, still many obstacles to scaling up of the programmes remain to be addressed such as issues related to the quality of services, the adequacy of the monitoring and evaluation system, bureaucratic regulations/ red tape, and some legal barriers.

UNODC Activities

Major activities of UNODC Iran in strengthening the national response to HIV epidemic comprise the following:

-        Facilitating the regional collaboration for improvement of Drug/HIV control programmes in frame of South-South Cooperation through organizing visits of foreign delegations to Iranian best practices in the fields of HIV/AIDS prevention and care among IDUs in prison settings as well as in the community;

-        Technical assistance to the government and NGOs for improving the quality of HIV control services delivered to drug users through organizing several training workshops;

-        Technical assistance to the government aiming at intensifying the measures taken for "Universal Access" through arrangement of meetings and workshop focusing on "the coverage of HIV control programmes among IDUs and obstacles to scale up of these programmes";

-        Tackling the stigma and discrimination as major barriers to Universal Access by organizing a workshop on this issues and programming for more initiatives;

-        Mainstream gender issues by organizing a workshop on "service provision for female drug users" and trying to include this concern in all programmes and activities;

-        Technical assistance to national counterparts in development of a more enabling policy environment for establishment of HIV control programmes among drug users;

-        Improving the response of mass media to HIV epidemic via assistance in performing an assessment on the mass media activities related to HIV/AIDS and preparing a mass media toolkit for HIV education;

-        Raising the public awareness on HIV/AIDS by publishing brochures, posters, guidelines, and organizing various activities and ceremonies on the occasion of WAD;

-        Improving the collaboration of UNODC with Joint UN Team on AIDS with active participation in Joint Team meetings and programmes;

-        Trying to expand the UNODC HIV programme by development of new projects considering the gaps in the national response to the epidemic.