News

On November 25, 2012, according to the Ministry of Health, the total number of officially registered HIV positive in the country is 1,612 people. Since the beginning of the present year, there have been139 new cases of HIV infection.

Volunteer-run Club K7 - Veliko Tarnovo, was the group in charge of running and organizing the educational events in observes of December The First, and has traditionally been the leading advocate on the prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted infections. Actually, the activities begun at the beginning of November, in the Veliko Tarnovo; in the form of a questionnaire. The survey was developed and conducted by the Philosophy Club at the University of Veliko Tarnovo, St. St. Cyril and Methodius. The questions in the survey were related to people's perceptions of AIDS, and prevention; combined with philosophical thought. It was conducted primarily among students. The total number of participants was 70.

The survey results revealed that the majority of students in Veliko Tarnovo are aware of what is AIDS, which can depict that the campaigns targeted to inform young people about this issue is indeed heading in a positive direction and hence giving good results. 40% of respondents believe that ignoring morality is the one to blame for the spread of the virus. Half of the respondents were under the impression that there are psychological components with HIV. However, some of the respondents believe that if you are mentally strong it would be easier to live with HIV. Another interesting result from the survey is that 62% of the respondents would not bear the thought of living with HIV.

The next event that commemorated December the First was the "World AIDS Day Film Fest". The event was a film festival dealing with the thematic of HIV / AIDS. The screenings were held from November 30 to December 2 at the Art Club "TAM", Veliko Tarnovo. The film selection shown during the festival was diverse with the purpose to provide as many views on AIDS and its virus. At the end of each film, brief discussions were conducted with the audience about their reactions and opinions to the film.  During the discussions, besides dealing with the core issue of HIV / AIDS, other important topics were brought up such as: questions concerning drugs, risky behavior, tolerance, discrimination and others.

Leading the discussions during the film festival were: Dr. Ani Angelova, from the Regional Health Inspection and Romeliya Mihtieva, from Center "Amalipe." They gave brief presentations of the films prior to their screening and answered questions from the audience.

One of the films received with a warm welcome was "The Little Condom Giver," which was
created for the campaign "10 DoA"(10 Days of activism) and won the award for the most watched video during the campaign of the GAB of Y-PEER in Tunis in October 2012.

Another anticipated film was "The Rainbow" (an original movie by Club K-7), which deals with issues of respect for diversity and AIDS. This film was made to commemorate The International Day of Tolerance on November 16^th. The film was first shown during this festival. Actors in both films were students /volunteers working on the project with Amalipe Center.


One of the most extensive discussions was after the screening of "The Rainbow." The film covers issues of tolerance and discrimination The characters represented through their personal story the issues of discrimination against minorities, people of different religious backgrounds, people with a low social status, problems with drugs, sexual orientations, and people with illnesses and living with HIV. The scenes are intertwined with interviews from common people. The comments made from the interviewees and the stories from the film initiated mixed reactions from the audience who were very willing to share their opinions on the issues deal on the film.  As the leader on the discussion was Ms. Nikolaeva, Regional Representative of the Commission for Protection Against Discrimination. She answered questions related to tolerance and tolerance towards others. She also explained what is the difference between "tolerance" and "lenity", because for many people this distinction was not very clear.

At the opening day of the film festival, a social cocktail event took place with the purpose to have the guest in a more casual setting where they could continue their discussions on the topics from the films. The cocktail social was accompanied by live music performed by volunteers of the Club K7.

During the film festival an exhibition was held. The exhibition was a flash back of posters made during the past years by youth volunteers. The posters and art items were place all throughout the hallways of the main entrance of Art Club “TAM.”
As a tradition from past years, on December 1^st, starting at 12:00PM, volunteers handed out condoms, health education materials and red ribbons in the city center. Campaign messages were related to the risk-free sexual behavior and tolerance towards people living with HIV. In front of the building Sky Center, the big red ribbon "Getting to Zero" was placed. As pedestrians passed by they were asked to write positive messages of awareness to the youth.

Along with the campaign in Veliko Tarnovo, campaigns were held in the towns of: Radnevo, Strazhitsa, Lyaskovets, Dolna Banya, and Knezha where the Centers for Community Development (these centers are run by Amalipe Center) held youth activists. The centers handed out condoms and health education materials to the communities. Materials were also distributed in schools and the university campus of "St. St. Cyril and Methodius" by students and volunteers from Club K7.

The number of newly infected men was three times greater than the number of newly infected women; from newly registered people, 108 were men and 31 were women. The oldest infected man was 63 years old and the oldest infected woman was 56 years old. Most of the new cases are in the capital, Sofya with 67, –Plovdiv with 13, Pazardzhik with 10, Varna with 7, and Sofya Region with 6.

When it comes to the transmission of AIDS/HIV there are two particularly vulnerable groups: men who have sex with men at 35%, and drug users by injection at 26% of new cases. The data shows that there has been a decrease of the percentage of people who got infected in the group of drug users by injection and an increase of the percentage of people who got infected in the homosexual/bisexual community. Of new cases, 9% with HIV positive were people who have long resided abroad and in the research were identified as carriers of the virus.

This year nearly 45% of newly registered young people were under the age of 29 years old. Five of the new registered were minors who live in particularly hazardous environment.

In 2012, the Ministry of Health provided funds for the purchase of 23 drugs to treat HIV, worth nearly 10 million Lev. To ensure the continuity of care through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an Operational Reserve ARVs worth about 1 million levs was set up in place. There are five specialized center for the treatment of HIV / AIDS in the country: Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Pleven and Stara Zagora. One specialized clinic in each city. As of October 31, a total of 518 persons receive appropriate antiretroviral therapy. A total 816 people with HIV are registered for tracking treatment centers.