From 26–31 July, the international AIDS 2026 conference will bring together researchers, activists, policymakers and community leaders in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to share evidence, expertise and solutions for the global response to HIV.
Four IPPF Member Associations from Eastern Europe and Central Asia will contribute to these discussions, sharing insights from their research, advocacy and community engagement in Albania, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Türkiye. Together, their contributions highlight why evidence, rights and community expertise must remain at the heart of efforts to prevent HIV and support those affected by it.
"Despite increasingly hostile and unpredictable environments for civil society and marginalised communities, our network continues to develop innovative, evidence-based responses to strengthen HIV prevention and care, guided by the expertise and experience of those most impacted," said Micah Grzywnowicz, IPPF EN's Regional Director.
AIDS 2026 comes at a pivotal moment for the future of the global HIV response. It provides an opportunity to bring perspectives from Eastern Europe and Central Asia into international discussions, and to shine a spotlight on a region that is too often overlooked despite the significant challenges it continues to face.
A region at a critical moment
Against a global background of hard-won and increasingly fragile progress in the fight against HIV, Eastern Europe and Central Asia stands at a critical moment.
The region remains the only one in the world where both new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths continue to rise. Advances have been slow and uneven, with effective responses undermined by shrinking international funding, narrowing civic space, the criminalisation and marginalisation of key populations, and persistent stigma and discrimination. Too often, the expertise, leadership and meaningful participation of communities most affected by HIV are not recognised, supported or adequately resourced. Together, these pressures make it harder for people to access urgently needed information, prevention, testing, treatment and care. Yet across the region, civil society organisations continue to develop practical, community-informed responses.
Among them, IPPF Member Associations are contributing in different ways through research, service delivery, community partnerships and advocacy. At AIDS 2026, four organisations will bring perspectives from their work on improving care for women living with HIV, removing barriers faced by female sex workers and trans people, and advancing rights-based approaches to HIV with and for LGBTI+ communities.
Albania | Removing barriers to HIV testing for female sex workers
For female sex workers in Albania, deciding whether to seek HIV testing is shaped by far more than awareness of available services. Stigma, discrimination, violence and the criminalisation of sex work continue to influence whether people feel safe, respected and able to access prevention and care.
As part of IPPF’s engagement around AIDS 2026, the Albanian Center for Population and Development (ACPD) will contribute findings from research exploring the structural barriers that continue to affect HIV testing uptake among female sex workers. The research found that while most participants surveyed knew where confidential HIV testing was available, many described experiences that undermined their confidence in accessing services, including fear of stigma, social exclusion and violence. The findings also confirm the vital role played by civil society organisations, with NGO-led services emerging as the main source of HIV testing.
Rather than placing responsibility on individuals, the research highlights the need for health systems and policies that respond to the realities of people’s lives. It also complements ACPD's wider work delivering community-based and mobile health services, ensuring that community insights inform both practice and advocacy.
For ACPD, this work points to a clear lesson. As Elona Gjebrea Hoxha, ACPD’s Executive Director, explains:
"Listening to female sex workers showed that trust is built through respect, confidentiality and non-judgmental care. Their experiences highlight the need for stigma-free, community-friendly services, stronger peer outreach, and healthcare providers who understand their realities and deliver person-centred care. HIV services are most effective when they are designed with the meaningful involvement of the people they serve."
Building on these insights, ACPD is also calling for legal and policy reforms that remove barriers to care and better protect people's health, dignity and rights. Looking ahead, Elona hopes the research will help translate these recommendations into lasting change:
"I hope this research will contribute to ensuring that female sex workers in Albania have equitable, stigma-free access to HIV testing and care through evidence-based policies, community-friendly services, and stronger links between outreach, testing and treatment."
Georgia | Improving care for women living with HIV
Women living with HIV are experts on the barriers they face in accessing healthcare and exercising their rights. Yet too often, their knowledge is overlooked, and opportunities to shape policies and services remain limited.
Among the work Association HERA XXI is bringing to the discussions at AIDS 2026 is an innovative participatory methodology designed to capture and centre the lived experiences of women living with HIV. The approach forms part of the organisation's broader work to integrate sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) with HIV support, recognising that treatment alone is not enough to ensure people's health, dignity and bodily autonomy.
Conventional qualitative research can struggle to gather experiences shaped by trauma, discrimination and unequal power dynamics, and may position communities primarily as sources of data rather than partners in analysing their own realities. In response, HERA XXI developed and piloted an approach that creates psychologically safe spaces where women use metaphor and visual self-analysis to collectively identify and analyse the structural barriers they face in areas including healthcare, employment and education, helping reframe personal experiences as evidence of systemic failures.
Alongside integrated SRHR and HIV support services and community-led spaces that strengthen self-advocacy and leadership, the methodology helps generate richer, practice-based evidence while ensuring that the expertise and lived experience of women living with HIV meaningfully informs services, policies and future research.
For HERA XXI, community leadership and integrated care provide the foundation for stronger advocacy and more responsive health systems. As Nino Tsuleiskiri, its Executive Director, explains:
"Rather than addressing HIV in isolation, integrated services recognise the interconnections between HIV, sexual and reproductive health, mental health and other health needs across the life course. Community leadership is critical to ensuring that services are responsive, equitable and accountable."
The organisation believes that principle also has implications for how HIV responses are funded. As Nino adds:
“I hope policymakers and donors will prioritise integrated, people-centred health services by investing in community-led SRHR and HIV programmes. Integrated service delivery responds to people's comprehensive health needs and improves coordination, continuity and quality of care.”
Kazakhstan | Building more inclusive healthcare for trans communities
Everyone has the right to healthcare that respects their dignity, supports their bodily autonomy and responds to their individual needs. Yet for many trans and non-binary people in Kazakhstan, accessing care means navigating discrimination, restrictive legislation and services that are not equipped to provide gender-inclusive support. These barriers can affect access to a wide range of essential health services, including HIV prevention, testing and treatment.
At AIDS 2026, the Kazakhstan Association on Sexual and Reproductive Health (KMPA) will share research developed with trans and non-binary people and healthcare professionals to better understand these experiences and identify practical ways to improve care. By bringing together lived experience and the perspectives of healthcare providers, the study explores not only the barriers people encounter, but also the systemic factors that undermine access to respectful, affirming healthcare. These include critical gaps in professional training, the absence of national clinical guidance and restrictive legal frameworks. In doing so, this work broadens the conversation beyond individual health issues to the structural conditions that shape access to care.
The findings reveal widespread discrimination within healthcare settings, alongside a strong recognition among healthcare professionals that they lack the knowledge needed to provide trans-inclusive care. They also show how gaps in services leave many trans people without access to medically supervised, gender-affirming care, forcing them to navigate important decisions about their health outside the healthcare system.
Drawing on these complementary perspectives, KMPA has developed practical recommendations, including professional training for healthcare providers and the development of clinical guidelines. As Galina Grebennikova, KMPA’s Executive Director, explains:
“Working directly with transgender and non-binary people showed us that the greatest barrier is not only the lack of services, but the lack of trust in the healthcare system. Respectful communication, informed healthcare professionals, and access to medically supervised gender-affirming care are essential to protecting dignity, bodily autonomy and the right to health. Healthcare should be a partner, not a barrier.”
Looking ahead, KMPA hopes this work will help drive lasting improvements to healthcare. As Mira Sauranbayeva, Vice President of KMPA, puts it, the priority is:
“The training of healthcare providers who are competent and ready to deliver friendly, non-judgmental services, and the establishment of a network of trans-friendly healthcare providers across the country.”
This, she says, would ensure that “no matter where a person lives — in a big city or a remote region — they can access knowledgeable and respectful healthcare providers,” adding that “such a network would not only improve health outcomes but also help reduce stigma and rebuild trust between transgender communities and the healthcare system.”
Türkiye | Advancing rights for stronger HIV responses
Access to HIV prevention, testing and care depends not only on health systems. It also depends on whether people can seek information, organise, advocate and exercise their rights free from discrimination, violence and intimidation.
For Kaos GL, one of Türkiye's leading LGBTI+ rights organisations, protecting civic space and defending the rights of LGBTI+ communities is an essential part of an effective HIV response. Through research, advocacy and engagement with national and international human rights mechanisms, the organisation works to highlight how discrimination, restrictive policies and shrinking space for civil society can create barriers to health and undermine access to HIV-related information and services.
At AIDS 2026, Kaos GL will bring this rights-based perspective to the global conversation, highlighting why community leadership and meaningful participation are essential to effective HIV responses, particularly where discrimination and shrinking civic space continue to undermine people's access to health and rights.
As Defne Güzel, Kaos GL's SRHR Coordinator, explains:
“While structural violence against LGBTI+ individuals negatively impacts their access to services, the most powerful way to reach the community is for LGBTI+ organisations to have a voice in HIV prevention efforts. LGBTI+ organisations have experience in both preventing discrimination and generating a voice from within the community based on LGBTI+ culture. In this sense, community leadership strengthens access to both services and rights.”
Looking ahead, Defne outlines one change that would make a real difference:
“It is crucial for policymakers, donors and international partners to engage more with LGBTI+ organisations and the LGBTI+ community in Türkiye. LGBTI+ organisations play a key role in reaching the community. Therefore, collaborating with them will be critical to HIV prevention.”
The way forward
The experiences shared by these four organisations reflect just some of the many ways that civil society across Eastern Europe and Central Asia is working to strengthen HIV prevention, care and advocacy. At a time when the region faces rising HIV infections, growing pressure on civil society and uncertainty over the future of international funding, business as usual is not enough. Progress will require sustained political commitment, investment and policies that protect rights, remove barriers to care and recognise the expertise of the communities most affected.
AIDS 2026 offers an opportunity to bring these perspectives into global conversations and to show that lasting progress depends on building HIV policies and services around evidence, rights and the leadership of affected communities.
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