The campaign is a component of the “Nobody Left Behind” initiative of the International AIDS Society (IAS), aimed at the needs of key populations: PLWH, MSM, transgender people and PWID.
As part of #AIDS2018, the final conference of the worldwide Me and my Healthcare Provider campaign was held, where awards were granted to doctors who were nominated for voting by their grateful patients in the #DoingTheRightThing format. Kazakhstan won one of the 3 awards.
Oksana Ibragimova, coordinator of the PARTNERSHIP program in Kazakhstan, nominated her doctor Gulzhakhan Akhmetova, who became one of the top three doctors in the world in this nomination.
“This year, #AIDS2018 hosted a very significant event for our country awarding the nominees Me and My Healthcare Provider. Kazakhstan participated in this nomination for the first time. It is my great honor to nominate Gulzhakhan Akhmetova as the most PWID/PLWH friendly doctor. This person is never indifferent, it was her who reinforced my confidence that my life, my health, my destiny is in my own hands! I wish that everyone could find such a doctor! This nomination means equal partnership between the patient and the doctor. Gulzhakhan Mazhitovna opposes stigma and discrimination always and at all levels”, Oksana Ibragimova told Minus Virus.
Me and my Healthcare Provider campaign is a component of the “Nobody Left Behind” initiative of the International AIDS Society (IAS). It addresses the broader needs of key populations: people living with HIV; men who have sex with men; transgender people; sex workers and people who inject drugs. Patients their doctors, nurses and other providers of medical services that provide services directly to patients as candidates for the Me and my Healthcare Provider award. According to patients, the nominated health workers work in #DoingTheRightThing format, in other words, they provide quality HIV prevention, treatment and care services to key populations, often encountering discriminatory laws, and without paying attention to traditions, the mindsets and beliefs prevailing in a certain country. For them, the patient is first and foremost a person who needs medical care. The campaign allows people living with HIV and representatives of other key groups to recognize the contribution of health professionals who have significantly changed the treatment approach and influenced improvement of the quality of life of patients.
Therefore, in 2014, as part of the “Nobody Left Behind” initiative, the Code of Conduct for professionals in the field of HIV health services was developed with a focus on respecting human rights to provide a human rights-based framework for accelerating access to high-quality services for key populations.