In cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Youth of JAZAS, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia hosted the deputies from the region in a one-day seminar on the Role of the parliament and deputies in the preparation of effective measures to suppress HIV/AIDS. The seminar was intended for the deputies and parliamentary employees so as to provide better understanding of how an adequately formulated legal framework can help confront HIV/AIDS in the countries in the region.

The seminar was opened by the National Assembly Speaker, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, Minister of Health Tomica Milosavljevic, Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic and Aleksandra Blagojevic, representative of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Welcoming the participants, Speaker Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic pointed out that, as a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the National Assembly has always shown dedication to the standards and goals set by this, oldest international parliamentary organisation, a trend it continued today by organising the seminar and cultivating parliamentary dialogue. She reminded the participants that unfortunately, Serbia is a country with the lowest HIV testing rate, repeating that encouraging people to get tested is the society’s key task. The National Assembly has intensified its legislative activity in the sphere since 2000, especially after 2004, by enacting a series of laws addressing HIV/AIDS issues, added the Speaker. The parliament’s efforts do not end with merely adopting laws, they extend to monitoring their implementation, encouraging educational action, raising awareness about the disease, as well as creating an ambient in which HIV positive people are not stigmatized. The National Assembly’s HIV/AIDS parliamentary group works toward this end and its efforts have made possible the introduction of an article on the discrimination of children based on their health condition or that of their parents into the Anti-Discrimination Law. The National Assembly also urges the introduction of health education into elementary and high-schools in Serbia which might help reduce the number of newly-infected. The Speaker restated that it was the task of all relevant social factors to improve the rights of HIV positive people and those suffering from AIDS by respecting the rights of the most sensitive groups in a legally acceptable manner and keeping the public informed.

Minister of Health Tomica Milosavljevic presented the Ministry’s actions in response to HIV and AIDS. He said that the Prevention Commission established in 2004 to implement a strategy against the disease was currently drafting a new strategy for the upcoming five-year period in cooperation with the non-governmental sector. Since 1997 Serbia has been providing free HIV medication, treatment is available in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Kragujevac, as is free testing in 22 medical centres in the country. Serbia has 2554 infected persons, 1524 have AIDS and 1071 people died. In 2010 an additional 114 infected people were registered, 25 people died and currently 1483 people live with HIV. The noted increase in young people infected by HIV is a troubling fact, as is the stigmatization and discrimination HIV positive and AIDS sufferers face, and the population’s poor testing turnout. The Global Fund’s 20 million EUR donation will enable preventive efforts in 40 Serbian towns. The basic goal of the further actions is halting the spread of HIV among the sensitive groups and improving the quality of life of those living with HIV, concluded Minister Milosavljevic.

Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic dedicated his address to respecting the rights of HIV positive people, stressing that HIV positive people live more easily in a tolerant society. He stated that the Ombudsman received only two complaints by HIV positive people last year and that they related to medications. He was pleased by the cooperation between the Ombudsman and citizens, National Assembly, ministries and the NGO sector on the issue, but added that there was still room for improvement. He restated that the Ombudsman was open to all initiatives by groups dealing with issues of persons living with HIV.

Aleksandra Blagojevic, representative of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, read the letter by its Secretary General in which he commended the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia for enacting laws that facilitate the life of people living with HIV, emphasising the fact that the fight against stigmatization and discrimination against HIV/AIDS sensitive groups still remains a challenge.

Following the opening addresses, the participants were greeted by Judita Reichenberg, Chair of the UN Country Theme Group for HIV/AIDS in Serbia. She spoke about regional trends and future projections. She also shared the most recent UN data on HIV/AIDS in the world for 2010. In addition, a significant part of her address was dedicated to the issues of prevention and framework for the respect of human rights and within it the rights of people living with HIV, the areas which had achieved a significant progress in the prevention of the spread of HIV, improvement of social care for those infected and suffering, efforts on eliminating prejudice, stigmatization and discrimination.

In the three sessions of the seminar the parliamentarians, parliamentary employees and representatives of the non-governmental sector from the region talked about the challenges faced by legislators, experiences and parliamentary practice, establishment of multi-party HIV/AIDS parliamentary groups, as well as partnership potentials, joint actions and support of parliamentary engagement on HIV/AIDS. Deputy Nikola Lazic briefed the participants on the results of the parliamentary HIV/AIDS group at the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia. The group was established in June 2009 in cooperation with the Youth of JAZAS, after the National Assembly had passed the Anti-Discrimination Law and the deputies had contributed to the suppression of discrimination against children based on their health condition or that of their parents by submitting an amendment to article 22 and its adoption by the National Assembly. The parliamentary group gathers deputies from almost all the deputy groups at the National Assembly which is also the only parliament in the region with a group on HIV. The group was founded with the idea that the deputies lend full support to the creation of the institutional framework for the respect of human rights, combat against discrimination and stigmatization of HIV-positive persons and people suffering from AIDS, to promote HIV testing, prevention and treatment, pass laws that strengthen the response to HIV/AIDS and, in line with the National Assembly’s monitoring role, follow their implementation in practice, said deputy Lazic.

Following the presentation of examples of good practice and cooperation between state institution and the non-governmental sector from Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, UK, and the presentation of the project of the Youth of JAZAS which resulted in the National Assembly’s parliamentary group on HIV/AIDS, the participants concluded that the following was needed for the preparation of effective measures to suppress HIV/AIDS: 1. an analysis of the existing and future legislation on HIV/AIDS; 2. monitoring the implementation of the existing laws; 3. raising the level of public information about the protection of rights of persons living with HIV; 4. cooperation between state institutions and the non-governmental sector in the implementation of campaigns; 5. dialogue between different political options in the formulation of the response to HIV; 6. continuous efforts on preventing the spread of HIV and 7. parliamentary involvement, from the local to the international level, on the exchange of experiences in the prevention of HIV/AIDS.