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US Funds Regional Workshop on Aids Prevention in Klaipeda

March 24, 2001

Vilnius, March 24--  Representatives from governmental institutions, non-government organizations, public health centers, and donors from the Baltic Sea Region will gather in Klaipeda from March 25-29 to take part in a "Consensus Building Workshop for HIV/AIDS Prevention."  The Workshop is part of the Baltic Sea Initiative (BSI).  This is a collaborative effort to prevent a widespread HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Baltic Sea Region, undertaken by governments in Scandinavia, the Baltic States, Russia (Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg), and other interested countries, along with a large number of donors and international organizations.  The meeting will start the U.S. Government-funded “Network of Excellence Project,”  which is technically supported by Family Health International.

The Baltic Sea Initiative fight against HIV/AIDS in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg is a collaborative and cooperative effort.  The work is guided by the BSI- Action Plan, which was adopted by all of the governments in the Baltic Sea Region. This blueprint for donors and

partners alike has three major goals: outreach to intravenous drug users (the main route of the disease), the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, and work with vulnerable and at-risk groups.

The results of the Workshop will be presented at an: 

Official Closing on Wednesday, March 28, at 14.00 hrs, at the Hotel Klaipeda.