Mardi 3

10145 Tallinn, Estonia

E-mail: sirle@aids.ee

Phone: +372 6607302

Fax: +372 6607471

Website: www.aids.ee

The mission of AIDS Prevention Center (APC) is to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS and to minimize the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in Estonia.

Our main activities are: 

• planning and implementing HIV/AIDS prevention methods in Estonia;
• providing of information and materials in the forms of seminars, lectures, discussions, etc. both in the APC and outside;
• organizing of campaigns, charity concerts and World AIDS Days;
• anonymous HIV and syphilis testing in Tallinn;
• providing schools and other health service organizations with respective materials;
• collecting and issuing data about HIV/AIDS/STDs both locally and internationally;
• analyzing the data on HIV/AIDS/STDs and forecasting the future;
• providing the media with updated information;
• preparing and publishing brochures, books, etc.;
• providing Estonian and Russian health teachers with uniform curriculum about HIV, safer sex and drug abuse, and carrying out respective seminars;
• conducting research and studies about the behavior of the Estonian and Russian youth to be used for all other projects;

Estonian AIDS Prevention Center (APC) is a nongovernmental organization that was established in 1st of September 2003. Our main target group are the school children, pupils, students, because this the best age to provide people with alternative thinking and options for developing healthy attitudes and patterns of behavior, several other projects are directly targeting other groups, e.g. health teachers, parents, but indirectly they all work for the better future of the adolescent.

The APC also generates projects with partners which focus on the vulnerable groups - IDUs, sex workers, gay men, people living with HIV/AIDS. We assist in designing appropriate techniques and methods.

Examples of such projects include:

• HIV/AIDS prevention among sex-workers, including under-aged;
• Harm reduction projects such as needle exchange, methadone program, rehabilitation center for young IDUs, etc.;
• HIV/AIDS and drug abuse prevention in prisons.

With adolescents, we attempt:

• to improve and develop their respect towards themselves and other people
• to encourage and promote healthy lifestyles
• to develop their social and communicational skills in the issues of gender, human sexuality and tolerance.

With grown-ups, we attempt:

• to foster and advance their responsibility for their children’s sexual health both at homes and in schools
• to provide them with means for open and sincere communication
• to develop tolerance towards people of various sexual orientations and towards people living with HIV/AIDS.

Vision …

It is our vision that by providing the people of Estonia with constant and updated information and by coordinating and implementing suasive and customer-driven programs, campaigns and projects, we succeed in creating a safe and healthy pattern of thinking, believing and behaving.