Finanzierungsproblem
vom Drogenhilfsprojekt www.Odyseus.sk Bratislava, Slovakia:
Harm reduction services started closing due to cut funding
(to be continued)
By Peter Lazovy, ODYSEUS
July 15, 2008
Financial and administrative challenges in the national Anti-Drug Fund threatens with discontinuation of national funding for drug services in Slovakia. Within the last weeks, the services operating needle exchange and outreach programs review their budgets, continue negotiations with Anti-Drug Fund and look for alternative immediate ways of funding for their services.
The Anti-Drug Fund, which manages funds for all drug services in the country, was found to use cca 30.000 euros untransparently in last years and therefore in April its funding was substantially cut. Though recently the Fund has received all the funds to reallocate, it has decided to postpone all the harm-reduction programs, due to unknown reasons. The Ministry of Social Affairs announced call for proposals for funding for injecting equipment and condoms only, but salaries and other operational costs remain unpaid. No funding is expected either from the Ministry of Health, which has never provided funds for harm reduction services at all.
Once praised for good practices in reaching underserved people, like injecting drug users (IDUs), sex workers, Roma and youth, soon NGO ODYSEUS together with six other harm reduction NGOs in Slovakia can close due to these funding problems. One organization stopped its operations in the beginning of July. Odyseus has funds to fully operate till September after spending all the saved money. Odyseus alone estimates a gap of 23.000 euros in order to operate till the end of the year.
Antidrug Fund is going to decide whether harm-reduction organizations are going to be financially supported in late September. But if so, this funding is till December and there is going to be another “financial gap” due to a gap in the system of national financing of harm-reduction in Slovakia. For this year Odyseus was partially financed from 2 City districts, Bratislava self-governing region, Municipality of the Capital City Bratislava and little sponsorship.
Nowadays
7 harm reduction organizations in Slovakia reach approximately 21% estimated IDUs population. The coverage is much beyond the 60%-level recommended by the World Health Organization and the commitments made in the Dublin Declaration on HIV/AIDS and a number of other declarations. The country cannot rely on international funding:
since Slovakia is part of the European Union in 2004 and is classified as upper-middle class, almost all donor groups have left the country. At present it is difficult neither maintaining existing services, nor establishing the new ones.
Slovakia has still low estimated prevalence of HIV, but has its border with
Ukraine, which has one of the world`s highest growing epidemics of HIV and hepatitis C.
Since 1998 Odyseus has provided the services for injecting drug users and for the people offering the sexual services through the Protect Yourself Program. This program has been continually carrying out its activities since 1998; since 2002 has been ensuring the low threshold syphilis and (later) HIV antibody testing for vulnerable groups, despite of significant expenses. Project of testing within the outreach program is nowadays the only one in Slovakia, but due to financial reasons, is now operating irregularly.
Odyseus, as the largest harm reduction organization in Slovakia,
distributes 145.000 needles [100 Nadeln/Kunde/Jahr], 11.000 condoms [7 Kondome/Kunde/Jahr] and other material per year.
Odyseus makes cca 6.000 contacts [4 Kontakte/Kunde oder 27 Kontakte/Arbeitstag] with 1.500 clients [Kunden] from communities vulnerable to HIV and hepatitis C and other cca 4.500 contacts with young people (drug counseling, syphilis testing and HIV/STDs prevention).
Odyseus` budget is 182.000 Euros/year [30 Euro/Kontakt/Jahr oder 120 Euro/Kunde/Jahr] and it is impossible to finance all the services only from small support from the City budget or (hard-to-find) sponzorship.
Any ideas for possible financial support would be very much appreciated. Please contact me at lazovy [at] ozodyseus.sk. Thank you!
HIV/AIDS in Slovakia-report produced as part of INTEGRATION Projects- find here:
http://www.integration-projects.org/c_r ... __AIDS.pdf
(15 Seiten)
To be continued.
.
