Small Heart with Art initiated the creation of the international community for parents of HIV-positive children

On March 24-25, 2017, the public organization Small Heart with Art took part in the constituent assembly of the ECUO Parents Union, a structural unit of the East European and Central Asian Unification of people living with HIV.

The ECUO Parents Union currently unites organizations from Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Russia and Estonia.

“We, the parents of the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, are uniting and mobilizing the potential to improve the quality of life of children and their legal representatives affected by the HIV epidemic in the region,” the Memorandum on the creation of the Union of Parents of the All-Union HIV and AIDS Community states.

Each of the participants of the “ECUO Parents Union” has its own unique experience of many years and is ready to share it with partners to ensure sustainable access to quality medical treatment, social protection and education for HIV-positive children in all countries of the EECA region.

The co-chairs of the ECUO Parents Union with equal rights were elected: the president of the PF “Balakai-Shymkent” Kanat Alseitov and the head of the board of the public organization Small Heart with Art Evgenia Smirnova.

Among the priority areas of activity of the “ECUO Parents Union” for 2017-2018 have been defined as follows:

• advocating the rights of HIV-positive children to approach quality medical services in accordance with European treatment protocols and providing the latest medical products;
• providing social support for HIV-positive children and their official representatives;
• creation of conditions for education.