(Sputnik
Kilambi /Mary Ferreira)
Hello and welcome to UNMIK
ON AIR with Sputnik Kilambi and Mary Ferreira.
Thinking of the possibility of an HIV/AIDS epidemic in
Kosovo is far from the minds of many people living here. More pressing social problems such as
unemployment and a crumbling economy take top priority as Kosovans struggle to
make ends meet. In this closed society,
people are reluctant to admit that behavior patterns are changing and that the
young generation may be at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Hannu Vuori from Finland works closely with the Ministry
of Health and local experts to address concerns about HIV/AIDS.
Hannu Vuori: Lots of Kosovars would like to
believe that AIDS is not really a problem here because it’s a Muslim country, a
traditional country, with close knit families which protect the members and so
on. There hasn’t been traditional
prostitution in Kosovo and so on but I am afraid that this is not quite
correct. There are a lot of factors
which make me believe that AIDS may indeed start increasing very rapidly.
Proximity to Europe and the influx of international workers
into Kosovo have triggered a change in behaviour on the part of some segments
of Kosovar society.
Hannu Vuori: First of all the social structure,
the social norms of Kosovans are changing very rapidly. Lots of people have been working
abroad. They are coming back with a
very different mental mindset than the people who live here. There were some surveys indicating that 50%
of youngsters under 18 years have had sex, which is rather surprising for a
supposedly Islamic country there’s lots of prostitution going on. Maybe it was first imported for the
foreigners here but unfortunately locals are certainly using the services today
at least as much as the outsiders. Then
there is also quite a bit of evidence that drug use, including injecting drug use
is more or less at the same level as in the rest of Europe.
Population Services International, PSI, is one of the
non-governmental organizations working on a pilot project with high- risk
groups and the youth in Kosovo, particularly drug users.
36-year-old Errol
works with PSI as an outreach worker He lives with his wife and two
children in Prizren. He has been clean
for 6 ½ years and works with young people to help them kick the lethal habit.
Errol: While I was using heroin I was
sharing needles and to be honest I didn’t care about that HIV or whatever it
is. At that moment, what was
interesting for me was to get the stuff whether it was with someone else’s
syringe; that was not a problem at all.
So far ten people have
died in Prizren alone from heroin addiction.
What about other regions in Kosovo?
The problem could get worse if the situation remains unchecked. Errol’s message for young people is simple.
Errol: It is not worth it simply to get
that small pleasure in the beginning and after that to live your whole life in
hell. Let’s call it like that or even
to die of that, it is not worth it.
PSI’s aim is to reach out to the young in communities across
Kosovo to educate them about HIV/AIDS.
It is making progress by using the youth to disseminate its message to
their peers
Flutra Germizaj works as a Behavior Change Communication
Manager at PSI’s office in Pristina.
Although talking openly about sex is still taboo in Kosovo, she says,
things are changing in Pristina.
Flutra: You can talk about sex, you can
talk about condoms and parents are more understanding of their children. If you go outside Pristina it is a different
story. If you go in Prizren, people
don’t even know what a condom is. I
think if there is a stigma attached usually it will never get better if you don’t
talk about it. And you should always
try to find a way to convince people that it is okay to talk and know more
about it. It is better to prevent
something than when it is too late and not to be able to do anything about
it. And Kosovo economically is not in a
very good state and even if someone gets infected then what do you do with
these people. It is very hard for them
to get treated anyway. So, you might as
well just prevent it before it happens.
The Kosovo AIDS Committee is developing a five-year plan to
respond to the increasing levels of HIV/AIDS in Kosovo, still a low prevalence
country. Dr. Xehat Jakupi believes that there is a direct threat to
certain segments of the population
Jakupi: If HIV/AIDS is going to reach
higher levels in Kosovo, then I believe that drug users, commercial sex
workers, their clients, and men who have sex with men will be the first groups
that will be in danger.
Two counseling and testing centers have been set up with
funding from USAID. These centers are
located in Sunny Hill and at the Prishtina Hospital. Only 42 cases have been reported so far, but there could be many
more people out there, sick and in need of medical attention. They are afraid to come out in the open for
fear of persecution from friends and relatives. Helping Kosovars understand the plight of these people is a major
challenge not just for AIDS workers, but also for the society at large.
Thanks for listening to this edition of UNMIK ON AIR.