New Project “BY YOUTH SIDE!" Inclusive health services for young people in the fight against HIV” launches in Kenya!
The ID-CARE team of the Department of Diagnostics and Public Health – Section of Infectious Diseases (University of Verona)
in collaboration with the Italian partners Medicus Mundi Italia (MMI) and No One Out, and the Kenyan Ministry of Health (Machakos County), the Kenyan association Deaf Empowerment Kenya (DEK), and the Kenyan network of HIV positive teachers (KENPOTE) is partner of the newly launched project “By youth side! Inclusive health services for young people in the fight against HIV”. Funded by the “Agenzia italiana per la cooperazione allo sviluppo” BY YOUTH SIDE! will be implemented in the County of Machakos, in the southeast of Nairobi and will last for 2 years.
The main goal is to strengthen the integration between health services offered by the local health system with the community and make them more attractive for adolescents and young people. The project is built on three pillars: 1) prevention of new infections, 2) adherence to antiretroviral treatment, 3) fight against stigma and discrimination.
The ID-CARE team will be involved in the 3rd component “Fight against stigma and discrimination”, conducting operational research on the importance and the impact of disclosure on adherence to antiretroviral treatment in the young population.
To decrease HIV stigma and combat the message that people living with HIV pose a “risk” BY YOUTH SIDE! will promote and advocate the concept U equals U (U=U which stands for undetectable equals untransmittable). A simple message that summarizes the idea that someone living with HIV, who is on treatment and virally suppressed, cannot transmit the virus to others.
Interested in knowing more about the project? Contact us: fabiana.arieti@univr.it, maddalena.cordioli@univr.it
