Description
INTERACT (www.eeca-interact.org) is a research workshop that brings together scientists, policy makers and civil society from the Eastern European and Central Asian region (EECA) to debate issues of HIV, TB, hepatitis and public health relevant to the region, while building capacity and strengthening research and clinical networks. EECA INTERACT’s mission is to advance science, build networks and strengthen local capacity, across the entire EECA region.
The first INTERACT workshop was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan in 2019, followed by a virtual EECA INTERACT in 2021 made possible by the International Geneva Global Health Platform at the Global Health Center, Geneva Graduate Institute. A second in-person workshop was held in 2022 in Riga, Latvia, which is being followed by this second virtual workshop.
The fight against HIV, TB, hepatitis and the field of harm reduction in EECA are strongly impacted by the political, cultural and socio-economic context of the region.
2023 will be another difficult year for the EECA region. Decades of progress in HIV, TB and harm reduction in the region are being undone as the region slowly recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and as health systems are being severely stressed and treatment and prevention services are being strained by the war in Ukraine.
The EECA INTERACT 2023 scientific programme will review the state of the art on HIV, TB and viral hepatitis in the region. The programme will also allow for a number of oral presentations by young scientists selected through peer review.
The scientific co-Chairs of INTERACT 2023 are Professors Catherine Hankins (McGill University, Montreal), Anda Kivite-Urtane (Riga State University) and Michel Kazatchkine (Global Health Center, Geneva Graduate Institute).
Notes: The war in Ukraine has led us to a set of specific policy decisions with regard to INTERACT 2023. As in 2022, we have decided on the following temporary policy regarding participation in the 2023 workshop.
- EECA INTERACT will not invite Russian nationals and residents of the Russian Federation to participate as speakers.
- EECA INTERACT 2023 will not accept scientific abstracts for peer review and possible inclusion in the programme if they contain data pertaining only to Russia.
- EECA INTERACT 2023 will not accept scientific abstracts for peer review and possible inclusion in the programme if they have multi-country data presented by a Russian author.
Opening and Closing remarks will be made by Michel Kazatchkine, Course Director, Global Health Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute; Senior Advisor to the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe
The final programme can be found here (also available in Russian here).
Organised by
The International Geneva Global Health Platform, the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health & Development (AIGHD) and AFEW International.
