dance4life Russia conference press-release

Press Release September 26­27, 2011, Moscow ­ Conference on the «Prevention of communicable diseases among young people: Best Practices». Participants from more than 25 regions of Russia gathered to discuss important issues about youths' health, and learn about the most effective methods of preventing the spread of communicable diseases. The conference was pioneering in its simultaneous examination of 4 key themes: HIV, reproductive health, tuberculosis, and substance dependence (namely drugs, alcohol and tobacco).

Activities were intended to cater to our target audience: youth. This led conference organizers to employ various innovative technologies (e.g. live connections, Twitter updates), involve celebrities in the entertainment industry (such as DJ Feel or music producer Ilya Ostrosky), and also include more informal activities like a flash mob dance and a quiz with prizes. The successful conduct of the conference once again demonstrates that an engaging and informal approach is most effective for working with youth.

The conference was organized by FOCUS­MEDIA, a Public Health and Social Development Foundation, and dance4life, an international youth movement for the health of young people.

Gregory Dempke, an expert from the Embassy of the Netherlands, opened the conference on a positive note. He shared that smoking was unpopular amongst European business circles, and noted the Russian Embassy's support for healthy living – as seen from how all 9 people working in his department are non­ smokers.

Next, a leading researcher of the Department of Epidemiology from the National Addiction Research Center of the Russian Health Ministry, Konstantin Vyshinsky presented on the prevalence of cigarette­ smoking. He gave us more sobering findings comparing 16­year­old students in Moscow to those from Russia and other countries, compiled through the ESPAD survey. Research shows that the average student in the capital comes into contact with more disposable surfactants, alcohol and nicotine than that of the country in general.

PR­менеджер dance4life Россия: Юлия Коваль­Молодцова Россия ● 125367 Москва ● Полесский проезд, 16 стр.1, оф.324 Т/Ф +7 (495) 276 11 23, Моб. +7 (962) 928 13 69 ● pr@focus­media.ru, www

. focus ­ media . ru www

. dance 4 life . ru

Chernova Maria Gerardovna, head of public health programs of the «International Confederation of Consumer Societies KONFOP» gave a current analysis of the effectiveness of various measures to combat teenage smoking. She explained the many difficulties encountered in the fight against tobacco. Despite the fact that July 1st marked the coming into effect of a ban against advertising tobacco products, there are still many factors that continue to promote cigarettes, including cigarette companies' sponsorship for music festivals, other promotions, the accessibility and ease of purchasing cigarettes, attractive packaging, a variety of appealing scents, and the global lows in the price of tobacco. All of these, compounded by the social nature of smoking, deprive young people of a real choice and worsen their dependence on nicotine.

Next, Lubov Erofeeva, international expert on sexual and reproductive health and rights (PRZP) and Director of the Russian Association of Population and Development (RANIR), gave a detailed presentation on outstanding issues in adolescents' and youths' reproductive health.

During the plenary session, Natalia Nikolaevna Ladnaya, specialist of the Federal AIDS Center, gave a report on the current state of HIV prevention through a direct Skype call from Ufa. Also, Svetlana Izambaeva, head of a fund supporting women and children living with HIV, shared her experience working

with HIV­positive children and adolescents. Her presentation was informative and deeply emotive. She stressed that an important priority when working with HIV­positive children is to inculcate leadership skills, self­esteem and an active lifestyle because our society is unfortunately still ill­prepared to openly accept people living with HIV.

Reporting on evidence­based approaches in the prevention of socially significant diseases, director of «FOCUS­MEDIA», Evgenia Alekseeva addressed the participants. Her speech described a variety of theories and models aimed at making risky behavior more conscious and responsible. Rounding off the plenary, Ramil Ahmetgaliev, legal analyst from «Agora», called for the implementation of people's rights to protection of their health and to a healthy environment (Articles 41 and 42 respectively of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).

The first day of the conference, September 26, also coincided with World Contraception Day. Conference organizers had prepared a special survey and analytical report titled «Use of condoms in preventing infectious diseases and sexually transmitted infections in Russia».

Also, a spontaneous dance flash mob broke out at the conference. It attracted the attention of conference participants and the public to discuss the importance of contraception in Russia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1lD1fyy19I

In the second half of the day, participants were divided into two sections to attend sessions on «Preventing HIV infections among youth» and «Youth reproductive health». Each group discussed specialized reports and practical experiences in these areas.

Next, two parallel sessions were held on the «Prevention of tuberculosis among youth» and on «Preventing the use of surfactants among youth». The sessions introduced to participants some wonderful video and printed materials, including new and unique training materials for engaging youth. See them here­ http://globus.focus­media.ru/what­we­do/news/3427/ on

reproductive

health

and http://youtu.be/GoUNzpIZgAs for the prevention of tuberculosis.

The second day of the conference, September 27th, opened with a workshop on the «Influence of social networks», led by Tatiana Bazlova from «FOCUS­MEDIA» and «Sarafannoe Radio» (Word of Mouth) laboratory director of social marketing, Vadim Chernets. Participants were given precise instructions and important details on how to create an effective working blog, as a real example of effective preventive action on the Internet.

That day, work was especially intense and engaging: participants took part in a talk show with Goodwill Ambassador DJ FEEL, learnt about experience of Anti­AIDS Fund of Elena Pinchuk (Ukraine), and had the opportunity to attend master classes and performances conducted by social enterprises. Presenters included well­known musical producer Ilya Ostrovsky, a representative from pharmaceutical company «Lilly» and the Director of Business Development from Microera.

On the second day, we also officially announced the launch of a collaborative project between dance4life Russia and FLEX Alumni Association (American Councils for International Education). Attending the conference were FLEX coordinators from Moscow, Volgograd, St. PEtersburg and Tomsk. This partnership promises to enhance the effectiveness of both organizations' events and volunteers.

The conference ended on a warm and informal note. Participants shared their takeaways and expressed their gratitude to the organizers and presenters. In the questionnaires collected at the end of the conference, participants gave a rating of 4.5 out of 5 on average. In particular, comments included «Speakers were 100% competent in their work», «Generally interesting speakers, facilitators and audience», etc. Participants also liked that «Speakers not only provided information but shared their personal experiences», and that «there were many young listeners». One suggestion was to «invite experts on policy­making in the specific areas of discussion».

Finally, all the participants recorded a video for their colleagues in Minsk. Under the auspices of UNESCO partner organizations, a conference amongst youth organizations of CIS countries was to be held on September 29­30, focusing on the sharing of experiences in fighting HIV infections among high school and college students. According to UNESCO representative Larisa Permyakova, our «video greeting opened the second day of the conference at Minsk, evoked a storm of emotions and garnered a positive response!» Watch it here: http :// www

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Sincere thanks go out to our partners, speakers, volunteers and participants for their support and active participation at the conference!