The Tehran Positive Club, a non-governmental organization supporting people living with AIDS in Iran, is among the 10 exceptional community-based organizations that have won the 2016 Red Ribbon Award for their inspiring work in helping reduce the impact of the AIDS epidemic.
They were presented with the prize in a special session at the 21st July 18-22 International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, South Africa, reports unaids.org.
“Across regions and cultures, communities are showing the world that ending AIDS is possible. Their courage, innovation and leadership is helping us overcome barriers and better respond to the needs of those most affected by the epidemic,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe at the award ceremony.
The 2016 winning organizations are from Burundi, Mexico, Belize, Kenya, Nigeria, Iran, Nepal, Chile, and New Zealand.
Almost 1,000 nominations were received from more than 120 countries, for the award, which is hosted by UNAIDS in partnership with AIDS 2016, the Global Network of People Living with HIV, the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS, the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations and Irish Aid.
Community Dialogue
A global panel of civil society representatives selected the finalists from a shortlist determined by regional panels.
Each of the winning organizations will receive a $10,000 grant and have been invited to participate in AIDS 2016, where they organize the Community Dialogue Space in the Global Village.
At the Red Ribbon Award special session, the winners were congratulated by Princess Mabel van Oranje of the Netherlands; Princess Tessy of Luxembourg; Minister of Health and Child Welfare of Zimbabwe, David Parirenyatwa; former president of Fiji Epeli Nailatikau, and Jan Beagle, UNAIDS deputy executive director.
“Community-based organizations are taking the lead in shaping the course of the AIDS response. The organizations here today - recipients of the 2016 Red Ribbon Award - are examples to us all of what it truly means to fast track the AIDS response, and to do so in a way which is inclusive, and that advances human rights and gender equality”, said Beagle.
The Red Ribbon Award was first presented in 2006 and since then has been awarded every two years at the International AIDS Conference. This year there were five award categories.
Psychosocial Support
The Tehran Positive Club provides prevention and psychosocial support with the aim of empowering and developing the capacities of people living with HIV for the management and improvement of life skills as well as reduction of stigma and discrimination in Iran.
Under the supervision of Iran AIDS Research Center, the club was founded with the participation of people living with HIV in 2006, inspired by the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).
It has set up goals based on the UNAIDS 90-90-90 Targets and “Getting to Zero” strategy. By 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status; 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy; 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.
Its partners include the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Health and Treatment Office of Iranian Prisons Organization, Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS (IRCHA), Islamic Azad University, Tehran Medical Sciences Branch, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of Iran, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM).
About 3,600 HIV-positive patients are members of the club that has branches across the country in Isfahan, Kermanshah, Qom, Bushehr, Khorasan Razavi, Fars and Ardabil provinces.
The Shoush Street branch of the club in Tehran is exclusively for women while other branches provide services to both men and women.
