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Methods

In March 2004, Human Rights Watch traveled to Moscow and St. Petersburg to interview HIV-positive mothers and families, medical personnel and orphanage staff, health officials, social workers and psychologists serving people living with HIV/AIDS, and non-governmental organizations providing material, psychological and legal support for HIV-positive families. Moscow and St. Petersburg were selected because they are cities with high rates of HIV prevalence, and because they are home to the only specialized orphanages in Russia for HIV-positive children.

During the three-week investigation, a Human Rights Watch researcher visited four baby houses:6 one regular baby house, two specialized baby houses only for HIV-positive children, and one ward for HIV-positive children located on the grounds of an infectious diseases hospital. The researcher also visited the municipal AIDS centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg, interviewing the directors and other medical personnel there. Several trips were made to Saint Petersburg’s Botkin Hospital for Infectious Diseases to speak with patients, medical personnel, and social workers. We also attended a support group for people living with HIV/AIDS and two seminars: one for doctors from the provinces on prevention of mother-to-child transmission (run by AIDS Foundation East-West); the second run by the Moscow School of Adopting Families on the needs of HIV-positive orphans.

For background on mother-to-child-transmission and the plight of Russia’s HIV-positive orphans, Human Rights Watch interviewed representatives of non-governmental organizations that focus on prevention of mother-to-child-transmission and/or the welfare of abandoned HIV-positive orphans, including AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW), American International Health Alliance (AIHA), the United National Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Assistance to Russian Orphans (ARO), Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS, Innovations, Delo, Doverie (Trust), Humanitarian Action, Caritas, and the Red Cross. We gathered this information through in-person interviews, over the phone, and from published and unpublished materials supplied by each organization.

Human Rights Watch interviewed a dozen HIV-positive women about their experiences at clinics and during pregnancy and, if they already had children, the barriers they faced in access to health care, day care, and schooling for their child. All of the interviews with HIV-positive women were conducted in Russian, some by telephone and some in person. Most of the interviews were conducted one-on-one except for one group session where six women were present. In each case throughout this report the name of the HIV-positive person interviewed has been changed to preserve anonymity.



[6] The term baby house, or dom rebyonka, refers to the orphanages for children aged three years and under. These “baby house” orphanages operate under the supervision of the Ministry of Health. After the age of three, the children are sent to a detsky dom or children’s house, an orphanage for children aged four to eighteen. These orphanages are the responsibility of the Ministry of Education.


<<previous  |  index  |  next>>June 2005