On March 19 the presentation of the activity of the International medical organization Medics sans Frontiers (MSF) took place in Kyiv. Offices of this organization have opened in nineteen countries worldwide. Throughout its area of activity Medics sans Frontiers are providing medical and humanitarian aid to victims of natural calamities, wars, and other major disasters. In Ukraine this organization is launching a mass media campaign called You Should Know More about HIV and AIDS. The spreading HIV/AIDS epidemic, which started as individual cases, has of late reached menacing proportions. While in 1987 there were only 81 registered cases of HIV infection in Ukraine, currently, according to estimates by experts of the UN Joint Program on Problems of HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the number of officially registered HIV infected individuals is 36,600, and some experts believe the total reaches 250,000, which is the highest in the former Soviet states. Research has shown that most affected are the southern regions of Ukraine along with Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk oblasts. This situation has caused the Ukrainian government to place the HIV/AIDS epidemic among the top priority problems on the state level. The Medics sans Frontiers international medical organization envisages creating four regional information centers. Their activity will be connected with the distribution of publications and materials about the virus. The research conducted by the organization testifies to the inadequate knowledge of the Ukrainian population about the virus’s nature and its spreading, which is the cause for their fear and prejudiced attitude toward HIV infected compatriots.
