The president of Ukraine recently signed the Law “On Developing the 2009-2013 National Program to Secure Prevention of HIV Infection, Treatment, Care for and Support of HIV-Infected and AIDS-Afflicted Individuals.” However, a mere three million hryvnias has been allocated for this program, or half of the required amount, experts say.
Last year Ukraine’s Ministry of Public Health (MOZ) registered nearly 21,000 AIDS cases, up 15 percent from 2007. Ukraine is Europe’s leader in terms of HIV infections and this situation is a concern for the international community. Two years ago the governments of Ukraine and Germany signed a cooperation memorandum aimed at reducing the HIV incidence rate in Ukraine. Germany gave Ukraine three million euros for 2008-10.
Samanta SOKOLOWSKI, coordinator of the project “German-Ukrainian Partnership Initiative for the Fight against HIV/AIDS,” tells The Day about how the money is spent every year.
Ms. Sokolowski, why did your organization decide to help Ukraine with a problem such as HIV/AIDS?
“In 2007 Germany’s Minister of Health Ulla Schmidt and her Ukrainian counterpart Yurii Haidaiev emphasized the importance of German-Ukrainian cooperation when they signed a joint statement in the sphere of health care, with the emphasis on HIV/AIDS prevention. Our purpose is not to implement projects in your country that have proved effective in Germany, but to adjust them to your situation. Our partnership means exchanges of experience, for example, between health centers, TB and drug and alcohol addiction dispensaries, NGOs dealing with such patients, and so on. We are also concerned about the economic crisis that may aggravate the situation, what with the soaring prices of medications Ukraine purchases abroad. An upsurge in this epidemic may be also provoked by the higher prices of contraceptives. Unfortunately, our organization is unable to improve this situation.”
How different is the HIV/AIDS incidence rate in Ukraine and Germany?
“This incidence rate is determined proceeding from the size of the population. Twice as many people live in Germany than in Ukraine, yet your country registers a very high AIDS affliction level: 1.63 percent of the entire population. In Germany we are on a downward curve. Here the rate is less than 0.1 percent.
“Also, there is a difference in social groups. For example, the man-infected-by-man group is regarded as the highest-risk group in Germany, and it keeps expanding. Experts with the GTZ (German Technological Cooperation Society) and their MOZ colleagues have set up a task force to develop a Ukrainian national information campaign. Its aim is to develop new methods to combat the epidemic based on expert knowledge and experience in both countries.”
What projects will be implemented in Ukraine?
“Ten joint projects involving German and Ukrainian experts were carried out in Ukraine last year. The projects in Ukraine are completely financed by the German Ministry of Public Health. Most of these projects envisaged preventive measures, including free and anonymous HIV tests and professional advice.
“One of the projects was aimed at introducing a new HIV-infected monitoring and treatment system. This project is needed because the MOZ of Ukraine adopted new patient progress report forms in April 2008. During the year we conducted refresher courses for the specialists in the field and organized educational and experience exchange trips to German health care institutions. This project enhances patient monitoring in each region, which is necessary for the purpose of planning the country’s actions in case of an epidemic, for example, purchasing medicines. This project will continue this year.
“Pertinent programs are underway in Donetsk, Vinnytsia, Ternopil, Chernivtsi, and Khmelnytsky oblasts. For example, in Chernivtsi oblast we run the project ‘HIV/AIDS Training for Schoolteachers.’ Specialists from the Freiburg Institute for Applied Studies (FRIAS) have conducted such courses for teachers who teach such school subjects as biology, PT, fundamentals of health care, school psychology, and so on. These teachers will continue preventive measures in their schools, telling their students during special classes about this problem from the physical, psychological, and social points of view. After all, our children must know how this infection is conveyed in order to avoid it, and what must be done if the worst comes to the worst.”
Why is this particular project being carried out in Chervnivtsi oblast, of all oblasts? Here the situation is not worse than elsewhere in Ukraine, or is it?
“Even though this region is not listed among those worst hit by the epidemic, records show a sharp increase in the incidence rate compared to previous years. There are no HIV-infected children attending school, yet the local health care department’s statistics point to six HIV infection cases among children under school age. These children will eventually join the schoolchildren community. Lots of people, among them schoolchildren, are still scared to discuss this subject with children, regarding it as another taboo. The worst thing is that people believe they know everything there is to know about this disease. In actuality, there are lots of tales and distorted truths on a household level. Measures must be taken to correct this situation.”
What progress can your Partnership Initiative boast to date?
“The GTZ is collaborating with the MOZ to develop a national HIV/AIDS preventive information campaign. The MOZ of Ukraine has received support from the Robert Koch Institute and the Federal Center for Health Education. In Donetsk oblast, home care nurses are taking a training course on HIV-AIDS, supported by the Deutsche AIDS Gesellschaft, Ruhr-University Bochum. There is also the program ‘Consistency in Student HIV Prevention.’
“Workshop seminars are being held for 1,500 teenagers in Donetsk, owing to close collaboration between Donetsk Medical University and other medical schools of Ukraine. A joint preventive program is being worked out. This year we will aim our efforts in several directions: epidemiology and prevention, both primary and secondary.
“We will also embark on a new project targeting women. The World Health Organization has determined that women make up a high [HIV/AIDS] risk group, so we consider it necessary to work along these lines. Details of this project are still being discussed, but each project must reach set objectives, for they are all intended to improve the situation in Ukraine.”
