UNFPA Georgia | December 1 is marked as World AIDS Day - Get the power in your hands

Photo project created in collaboration with photographer Dina Oganova and UNFPA tells us about the existing reality

December 1 is marked as World AIDS Day. On this day, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), together with partner organizations, once again reminds the public of the importance of timely HIV diagnosis and fighting stigma and discrimination.

Over the past decade Georgia has made significant progress in strengthening the treatment and care services for people living with HIV. However, low detection rates of HIV-infected people remain a challenge: more than one-third of the estimated number of HIV-positive people (35%; 3,150 infected) still remain unaware of their HIV-positive status.

In 2020, as part of a joint innovative initiative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the perceptions and views of young people, People Living with HIV (PLHIV), Key Populations and health care workers on HIV testing barriers and motivators were studied. The results showed that there are still many existing barriers to HIV testing in the country.

Dina Oganova's photo project, created with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), through photos and narratives, speaks openly about the reality behind the statistics. Common myths, fear of exclusion, stigma and discrimination prevent people from making timely diagnoses and taking care of their own health on a daily basis.

To change the existing reality, UNFPA will support the promotion and dissemination of correct information, change misconceptions, reduce risks and in this way, support the establishment of a healthier and stigma-free society.

The photo exhibition was prepared within the frame of the campaign "Get the power in your hands - get tested for HIV", which is jointly implemented by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Georgia Country Office and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The content of the photo exhibition is based on the document exploring key hindering factors among young people and Key Populations for low uptake of HIV testing through Behavioral Insights (BI) prism. The narrative style is preserved. The views expressed in the texts are those of the study participants and do not necessarily represent those of the UNFPA and UNDP.

Once I was offered to take an HIV test (some people came to the university on behalf of an organization), but I did not take it then, because I did not trust those people and besides, at that moment I was too busy...

The girl learned that her ex-partner had been diagnosed with HIV about a year later.

She had not even thought about taking a test until then, although she could not have been sure if she was protecting herself properly in her relationships. However, when she learned that her ex-partner had been diagnosed with HIV, she got anxious.

She had kept it a secret from even her family members for a long time and could not even decide to take a test.

She might have preferred not to learn the truth. She did not tell her relatives about it because she felt embarrassed, she was ashamed to admit that she had had sexual relations and, at the same time, she could not be sure if those relations had been always safe.

In the end, she went to take a test without telling others and she found out that she was HIV positive.

Getting tested for HIV is more available to LGBT people because the information is easily disseminated within our community.

What matters is who provides the service. I think we do not have many professionals in this field in Georgia and it can often be associated with feeling discomfort and anxiety.

An acquaintance of mine decided to take the test after having a sexual relation with a man who was a complete stranger for her.

But she had to wait for the period when she would be in another country and not in Georgia.

I was tested in a medical center.

They all seemed to be overly inquisitive, asking me about the reason for my visit and some personal questions as well, which irritated me and I told them that it was normal to be tested once a year for preventive purposes, regardless of whether there was a good cause to suspect that you might be infected.

My friend and I went to the clinic to be screened for hepatitis C and AIDS.
We waited for our turn in the corridor where many people kept coming to receive different services and where privacy was totally neglected.

Everyone could see very well that we were there waiting in the queue to get tested for HIV and hepatitis C. Finally, they collected our blood samples and we were informed about the results soon after.

The lab technician also seemed surprised and asked me why I wanted to be tested for HIV, I do not know why…

An acquaintance of mine went to the clinic to get tested for HIV. He was subjected to judgments and humiliation even though he was eventually diagnosed as HIV-negative.

I am HIV-positive but before I found out about my status, I thought this was a deadly disease. It turns out everything is not the way we think they are and I feel better now than ever before.

I went to a clinic to get tested quite by accident; a friend of mine asked me to accompany him to attend an event in an organization and it was there that I was offered to take a test and I agreed. Now I feel happy about being able to learn about my status and being able to take care of everything in time, as it might have had a fatal outcome in my case. Since I learned about my status, I had a hard time getting used to it. I could not cope with too many negative thoughts running through my mind and it all led to a suicide attempt in my case.

I was lucky to survive as they found me half-dead. When I think now whether I really wanted to die? Then I did; I just could see no other way out. From today’s perspective, I laugh at myself a lot for all this.

Moreover, this is thanks to a lot of very good and kind people that I think like this now; and I owe my life to them as well; and I think I will never be able to repay this debt.

They gave me a second chance and I have been taking care of my second life since that day. HIV is not a death sentence; it is just an unpleasant event, which makes us change our normal life routines, but how we change these routines is entirely up to us.

Drug addiction has become the main and insurmountable problem for me. The fact that drug addicts in Georgia have to face not only legal but also moral persecution mostly leads to some psychosocial problems in case of people like me. There is a huge barrier to acceptance of us – as drug addicts - in the society.

In many cases, this is the reason why people tend to consume drugs in an unsafe environment, which increases the risk of contracting HIV.

When my friend - I. V. - suggested getting tested for HIV, to be honest, I was very scared.

It seemed to me that I had to come to terms with the fact that I was HIV-positive. However, fortunately, things did not turn out the way I expected. My friend was not as lucky as I was and was diagnosed with the virus, and found himself rejected by many of his friends. He was left all alone to struggle against this disease. We had to face some unpleasant facts while being tested for HIV, for example, the nurse's attitude towards us. In short, such facts hinders our socialization and harm our feeling of belonging.

I no longer remember when I was first tested for HIV. This probably happened when one of the organizations offered us GEL 25 in exchange for participating in a research.

This was legal - a part of the methodology used in the programme.

The only thing I worried about was that they had to collect the blood sample from my vein. I had not had an experience of being engaged in risky behavior, so I was sure I was not HIV-positive. The situation changed dramatically when I realized that I had some risky behaviors and could be diagnosed as HIV-positive.

Then I asked myself a question - how will I go on living? How will my life change? The most stressful in all this was the way I struggled to hide my HIV-positive status. I had heard people around me gossiping about different people, discussing their diseases. It was so hurtful and difficult to hear them judging these people. I was worried that they would judge me as well.

My friend had to undergo some medical examination, including a test for HIV, before being operated on. He was terrified while waiting for the results. He felt neglected while consulting with physicians.

He wanted to be better informed, as he was very scared having had some risky behaviors. However, the medical staff, instead of informing him, made him feel even more stressed by asking some awkward questions and thus adding to his feeling of seclusion.

A friend of mine and I decided to take an HIV test after getting tattoos. Unfortunately, she was misdiagnosed as HIV-positive and had to retake the test in Germany that ultimately proved that she was HIV-negative, although she had been taking some medication for at least a month. Although I did not expect to be diagnosed as HIV-positive, the situation in the medical center was so depressing, partially collapsed walls, crowded unsanitary corridors, and people looking anxious and troubled…

I will try my best not to get there again. However, actually, I am for introducing a practice of routine medical checkup at least once a year. HIV is not a verdict and it does not need further explanations. The fact that it does not harm the quality of life and that methods are available to control it is very important, but unfortunately, there is still a lot to be done in the direction of raising awareness and regulating the environment.

My friend and I went to a medical center to be tested for HIV, after having studied the causes and risk factors thoroughly. However, people’s reaction was not adequate at all. They started insulting us and asking questions such as: why we needed to be tested, was there anything we did wrong, etc., when there was no need or necessity for such a treatment to be displayed towards us.

My closest friend really wanted to get tested for HIV because she thought she belonged to a risk group for HIV. The only hindering factor was the fear of attitudes displayed by people and the community; this became the reason of why she decided not to get tested.

There is always a sense of awkwardness when taking an HIV test. I have such an impression. One should always be ready for a suspicious glance as if all of them waiting to be tested were waiting for their death sentence to be executed.