February 3, 2020 – Stigma and discrimination are among the foremost barriers to access health, social and legal services. Therefore, it is important to establish a baseline and find out what undermines HIV prevention, treatment, and care efforts, what is the cause of fear to seek information and services to reduce the risk for infection, or enrollment into treatment and care.

“Measuring Stigma and Discrimination towards Key Populations at Risk for HIV and Persons Living with HIV in Kosovo” is a report financially supported by the CDF through the Global Fund grant and commissioned to UBO Consulting in December 2018 on request of the NGO Integra, with the support of the CDF and the Ombudsperson Institution of Kosovo.

This is the first research of its kind in the country, considering that stigma and discrimination are among the major barriers to access to health, social and legal services to key affected populations (injection drug users, men who have sex with men, sex workers) and persons living with HIV in Kosovo.

The fieldwork was conducted from January to March 2019. It covered lawyers, judges, prosecutors, police investigators, professors at the faculties of law and social workers in the area of rule-of-law and doctors, nurses, other health workers (technical medical staff, pharmacists, dentists, etc.) and professors at departments of medicine in the area of medicine. 

The findings of the survey were shared with the Program Advocacy Group (PAG) on its meeting of September 13, 2019.  An absolute majority of the findings were validated in this meeting and the NGO Integra gave the members of PAG an opportunity to send written comments and/or feedback.  Comments and interventions that were sent by PAG members regarding the findings and recommendations are incorporated. 

Read the research on the link below: