Representatives of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (AUCCRO), a forum of 19 confessions and faiths united, met in Kiev, Ukraine, to highlight the urgent needs of people affected by HIV in eastern Ukraine.

With support from UNAIDS, the meeting was attended by senior religious leaders and faith-based organizations from 19 different confessions and religious faiths, as well as people living with HIV, civil society, government officials and other national stakeholders.

In his opening remarks, the Archbishop of Chernihiv and Nizhyn, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate, called for urgent and coordinated efforts across all faiths to support people affected by HIV during the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Nataliya Nizova, Director of the Ukrainian Center for Socially Dangerous Disease Control of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, presented the latest data on HIV in Ukraine. After a promising trend in the reduction of new HIV infections in 2013, Ukraine reports an alarming renewed increase in HIV infections. In 2014, 18 781 new HIV infections were officially reported, with over 55 700 people receiving antiretroviral therapy and over 8000 people receiving opioid substitution therapy. Ms Nizova also highlighted the urgent risk of treatment interruptions facing 13 500 people living with HIV in the conflict-torn regions of Donetsk and Lugansk.

In 2005, AUCCRO developed a common HIV policy for churches and religious organizations and established a partnership dialog with governmental institutions and nongovernmental organizations to advance the AIDS response in Ukraine.

The meeting participants agreed that the military conflict in eastern Ukraine promoted an urgent review of AUCCRO’s AIDS strategy in order to address the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian and health situation facing people affected by HIV.

The forum adopted a resolution that calls on members and faith-based organizations to consolidate efforts and strengthen partnerships in support of the national AIDS response.

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The Executive Director of UNAIDS Michel Sidibé congratulated Ukraine for being the first country in Eastern Europe to reduce new HIV infections between 2001 and 2012. On October 23, the first day of his two-day official visit to Ukraine, Mr Sidibé met separately with the Head of the Health Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament Tatiana Bahteeva and the Minister of Health Raisa Bogatyreva.

In his meeting with Dr  Bogatyreva, Mr Sidibé thanked her for her personal role in leading the national AIDS response and in securing the government’s strong commitment to scaling-up HIV treatment and life-saving prevention services, including comprehensive harm reduction and opioid substitution therapy for drug users. They also discussed the importance of the new National AIDS programme for 2014-2018.

The National AIDS programme is expected to be endorsed by the Parliament of Ukraine in the coming months and was also an important theme in Mr Sidibé’s meeting with Dr Bahteeva. The Programme contains a number of ambitious goals, including the significant scaling up of antiretroviral treatment for people living with HIV and a major increase in government funding. 

Mr Sidibé expressed the hope that the country will sustain and build on the recent progress and ensure the long term sustainability of HIV services in Ukraine by taking full national ownership of the HIV response.

Ukraine is experiencing one of the most severe HIV epidemics in Eastern Europe, the region of the world which continues to have the largest increase in HIV incidence.

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UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé welcomed the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Kostyantyn Gryshchenko to UNAIDS Headquarters in Geneva. During their bilateral meeting, they reviewed Ukraine’s impressive progress in its national AIDS response.

The country has nearly doubled the number of people accessing HIV treatment in the last year—now reaching more than 40 000 people. Vice Prime Minister Gryshchenko conveyed his appreciation to UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and national foundations for supporting the HIV response in Ukraine and expressed hope that Ukraine will advance this progress through the newly developed National AIDS Programme for 2014-2018.

The Vice Prime Minister also reiterated the invitation by the Government of Ukraine to Mr Sidibé to make his first official visit from 22 to 24 October 2013.

In October 2012, a high-level delegation of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) visited Ukraine to see first-hand the achievements in the national AIDS response. Ukraine will join as a new member of the PCB for a three-year term from 2014 to 2016.

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UNAIDS PCB delegation visiting a drop-in centre for people who use drugs and other key populations being implemented by the NGO Convictus in Kiev. 5 October 2012.
Credit: UNAIDS

Representatives from the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) visited Ukraine from 4-5 October to learn about its National AIDS Programme and to experience first-hand the progress made and the challenges remaining in the country’s AIDS response. This was the first visit of the UNAIDS governing body to the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region.

The PCB delegation met with the Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Health of Ukraine, Dr Raisa Bogatyryova, as well as with other government officials, development partners, civil society and community representatives—including members of national and regional networks of people living with HIV—and with the UN Country Team and the Joint Team on AIDS.

The meeting with Dr Bogatyryova offered an opportunity to discuss the concept of shared responsibility and to explore ways in which domestic financing could be strengthened.

The Ukrainian Government has increased the domestic investments for HIV by 10-fold (between 2005 and 2010), and has succeeded in increasing external financing especially for HIV prevention, care and support programmes for key populations. Yet, 50% of the country’s AIDS response remains dependent on donor financing.

“The current situation in Ukraine is confirming the importance of the country’s decision for the state leadership and accountability in our joint fight against HIV,” said the Vice-Prime Minister Bogatyryova. “We are committed to further scale up HIV treatment and prevention in Ukraine with a new national AIDS strategy for the next five years,” she added.

The Delegation and the Vice-Prime Minister talked about the need to scale up HIV prevention and treatment services as the current HIV treatment programme in the country is meeting the needs of only 25% of people eligible. They also highlighted the importance of creating an enabling environment to facilitate access to HIV services to key populations at higher risk of infection such as sex workers, people who use drugs and men who have sex with men.

Ukraine is experiencing the most severe HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe with an estimated 230 000 people living with HIV. Injecting drug use remains the leading cause of HIV infection in the country, with an HIV prevalence of 21.5 % among people who inject drugs.

The members of the Delegation had the opportunity to visit several health facilities to see the work being done on the ground. In the Kiev city AIDS clinic, for example, the government and civil society partners are providing services for people living with HIV and people who use drugs—including HIV and TB treatment, substitution maintenance therapy (SMT) and psychological support. Also in Kiev, the Lavra Clinic, is a specialised medical facility that provides clinical care to HIV-positive patients, and has a drop-in community centre which offers HIV testing, prevention and care for people who use drugs, sex workers and transgender people.

The delegation also interacted with women at the maternity clinic of the Kiev City Center of Reproductive Health and Perinatology, which provides services to stop new HIV infections among children as well as substitution maintenance therapy to pregnant women who also use drugs. They also talked to the service providers (medical professionals, psychologists, outreach and social workers, and volunteers) to learn more about their activities and challenges they face.

Efforts to stop new HIV infections among children and keeping their mothers alive have yielded positive results in Ukraine where 96% of pregnant women living with HIV received antiretroviral prophylaxis in 2011. Mother-to-child transmission of HIV was reduced from 28% in 2001 to 4.7% in 2009.

Throughout the visit, the delegation highlighted the key role played by civil society organizations in advocating for, and providing HIV services for key populations, care and support to people living with HIV, and in reducing stigma and discrimination towards affected communities.

PCB delegates with the UN Country Team and Joint Team on AIDS in Ukraine at the UN House in Kiev. 5 October 2012.
Credit: UNAIDS

“I have seen civil society in action in this region and I must say that it is particularly strong in Ukraine. The partnership between civil society organizations and national and local governments is essential in order to further scale up and sustain HIV services for the most vulnerable populations in Ukraine,” said Matt Southwell, the PCB NGO representative for Europe.

“The PCB field visit to Ukraine was an excellent opportunity to expose the delegation to the particular challenges of one of UNAIDS high impact countries and the most severe epidemic in Europe,” said Jan Beagle, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Management and Governance. “The members of the delegation were also able to witness the critical role of UNAIDS in leading the Joint UN Team with the support of the Resident Coordinator and UN Country Team.”

The PCB delegation was composed of the Deputy Minister of Health of Poland and PCB Chair, the PCB Vice Chair from India, delegates from the United States of America, United Kingdom, Togo, the Islamic Republic of Iran and El Salvador, the European NGO constituency, three UNAIDS cosponsoring agencies (WHO, UNODC, UNFPA), and the UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Management and Governance.

Vice-Prime-Minister and Minister of Health of Ukraine, Raisa Bogatyrova and UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. UNAIDS Headquarters, Geneva. 12 September 2012.
Credit: UNAIDS

A senior delegation from Ukraine led by the Vice-Prime-Minister and Minister of Health, Raisa Bogatyrova met with UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé at the UNAIDS Headquarters in Geneva on 12 September 2012. During the meeting, they discussed the existing challenges and opportunities for an effective HIV response in the country.

With an HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs of 21.5 %, Ukraine is experiencing the most severe HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe. Mr Sidibé commended Ukraine’s efforts to address the situation and highlighted the positive outcomes resulting from the availability of harm reduction services, including needle-exchange and opioid substitution therapy for people who inject drugs.

“I am very impressed by the impact achieved by harm reduction programmes in Ukraine,” said Mr Sidibé. “This is clear evidence that a combination of leadership, good policies and resources, can halt even the most severe HIV epidemic,” he added. Mr Sidibé also welcomed the Government’s commitment to provide adequate financing for the sustainability of such prevention programmes. Currently, harm reduction programmes are externally funded and implemented by civil society organizations.

“Ukraine can only overcome this epidemic in partnership with international organizations and civil society,” said Ms Bogatyrova. The national AIDS response in Ukraine—one of the most comprehensive in Eastern Europe according to UNAIDS—is characterized by a strong inclusion and collaboration between national and international partners.

The Vice-Prime-Minister also highlighted the link between HIV and national security. “HIV has a disproportionate impact on young people. From the point of view of the national security – HIV is Ukraine’s top priority.” 

The Government of Ukraine has increased the domestic investments for HIV by 10-fold in the last five years. During the meeting, ideas were exchanged on how to enhance the impact of HIV investments, scale-up HIV treatment, which currently only covers 25% of the people eligible and how to make procurement of HIV drugs more efficient.

Members of the Ukrainian delegation visiting UNAIDS. UNAIDS Headquarters, Geneva. 12 September 2012.
Credit: UNAIDS

Mr Sidibé expressed the hope that Ukraine as a large, middle-income country in the heart of Europe could serve as a model to other countries in the region for the delivery of HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.

The preparations for the upcoming visit to Ukraine of a delegation of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) on 4-5 October 2012 were also discussed. The first visit of the PCB to Ukraine will be led by the UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Management and Governance, Jan Beagle. The aim of the visit will be to learn about the country’s National AIDS Programme, which is currently being revised, as well as to experience first-hand the progress made in the AIDS response.

An estimated 3.7 million people currently inject drugs and roughly one in four of them are believed to be living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Credit: UNAIDS/J.Spaull

The community of people who use drugs called for an urgent shift from prohibitive policies to public health and humane approaches towards people who use drugs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the International AIDS Forum held on 9-10 July, 2012 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Addressing participants through a video message, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé stated, “UNAIDS stands firmly with you to call for the lifting of restrictions on harm reduction and for evidence informed, life-saving interventions to be introduced on an urgent basis.”

Entitled ‘Ensuring That Our Voice Is Heard’, the forum brought together representatives from communities of people who use drugs, civil society, academia and the United Nations to discuss the existing challenges in addressing issues related to drug use and HIV. They also agreed upon and formulated the messages that will be conveyed to their national governments as well as the international community at the forthcoming XIX International AIDS Conference to be held on 22–27 July 2012 in Washington D.C., USA.

The estimated number of adults and children living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia has tripled since 2001 reaching 1.5 million in 2009. Injecting drug use remains the primary cause of HIV transmission in the region. An estimated 3.7 million people currently inject drugs and roughly one in four of them are believed to be living with HIV in the region.

The main issues of concern expressed by participants included the growing police harassment and abuse suffered by people who use drugs, the existing punitive laws and the low scale of harm reduction services—including opioid substitution therapy and needle-syringe programmes. The high level of stigma and discrimination from health care providers towards people who use drugs continue to prevent them from getting life saving medical care and social support.

“Punitive drug policies and stigmatization deter people who use drugs from accessing HIV prevention and treatment services. If governments and international communities continue to wink at the violations of drug users’ rights in their countries, they won’t be able to take control over the growing HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia,” said Dasha Ocheret, Deputy Director for Policy and Advocacy of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network, one of the organizers of the Forum.

During a special session devoted to the rights and health of women who use drugs in the region organized by the UNAIDS, participants discussed the particular risks and vulnerabilities faced by women who use drugs. According to Natalia, a participant from Tomsk, Russian Federation, women who use drugs frequently face a double or even triple stigma and discrimination based on their gender, as drug users and due to their HIV status. Many of them are also victims of sexual violence and stigmatized because of their engagement in sex work.

“The role of UNAIDS and other international organizations is to promote the rights of people who use drugs at the highest political level both nationally and globally and to develop evidence-based policies to ensure adequate funding for harm reduction and HIV services,” said Jean-Elie Malkin, UNAIDS Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Opioid substitution therapy is available in all countries of the region, with the exception of the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. However, participants stressed that the majority of countries have not scaled up opioid substitution therapy beyond pilot projects despite their proven effectiveness.

According to Michel Kazatchkine, member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, “only by breaking the taboo and opening up the debate on harm reduction both globally and nationally we can move the line on this issue. The world is already talking about drugs and drug policies more than ever before, so we should not be discouraged but rather push decision-makers even harder.”

The lack of funding for HIV prevention services for people who use drugs was also highlighted especially since most countries in the region are no longer eligible for the Global Fund grants. The community called for the inclusion of HIV prevention among people who use drugs into the political agenda as an emergency issue that needs significant investments. Otherwise the region will not succeed in its response to the epidemic.

The International Forum consisted of plenary sessions, capacity-building sessions on communication and advocacy, and video documentary sessions where participants recorded short video messages for the delegates of the International AIDS Conference.

The International AIDS Conference is the premier gathering for policy makers, activists, people living with HIV and other individuals committed to ending the AIDS epidemic. The AIDS 2012 program will present new scientific knowledge and offer many opportunities for structured dialogue on the major issues facing the global response to HIV. It is expected to convene more than 20 000 delegates from nearly 200 countries, including 2 000 journalists.

Anti-AIDS charitable concert in Kiev, Ukraine, ahead of the 2012 European Football Championship final.

“In football and in life you need to look ahead,” said UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador Michael Ballack to the TV viewers of the anti-AIDS charitable concert given by Elton John and Queen in Kiev, Ukraine, ahead of the 2012 European Football Championship final. “Every day 3 000 young people become infected with HIV. We can stop that. Protect yourself and your partner!” stated Ballack.

Entitled Your Life is Not a Game. Let's Stop AIDS Together!, the concert was organized by the Elena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation in collaboration with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). It was broadcasted live in Ukraine and Poland as part of the events related to the Euro 2012 tournament hosted by Poland and Ukraine between 8 June and 1 July 2012.

EURO 2012 provided an excellent opportunity to highlight the AIDS epidemic among a large audience across Europe as millions of fans, communities and nations watched the games, listened to football players and engaged in social activism.

UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador HRH Crown Princess of Norway Mette-Marit also delivered a message to the Ukrainian and regional youth: “I strongly believe in young people,” said Mette-Marit. “Youth leadership and empowerment can make miracles. If you unite your forces and raise your voices, you will be heard by decision makers. And one day you will be the decision makers,” she added. 

Youth opinion leaders can play an important role in social change, including the transformation of prejudice and stigma associated with HIV, as they are known and admired by their peers—young people look up to them as role models. Their voices can help drive important messages on HIV prevention as well as overcome widespread stigma and discrimination.

Regional Youth Team

During the Euro 2012, a new Regional Youth Team comprised of young leaders in sport, music and youth culture in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region was introduced in Kiev with support from UNAIDS. The Team will focus on galvanizing the commitment of young people in effective HIV prevention and promoting youth activism as a key pillar to change society’s attitude towards people affected by AIDS. Stigma and discrimination continue to be important barriers in effectively responding to HIV in the region.  

“Young people remain at risk in all parts of the region,” said Jean-Elie Malkin, UNAIDS Director, Regional Support Team for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. “There is a need for new voices, new energy and new ideas to address the vulnerability of youth, to promote HIV prevention and to advocate for tolerance towards people affected by AIDS in the region,” he added.

During a three-day programme in Kiev, the Team gave a concert at the main stage of the Euro 2012 Fan-Zone, visited a clinic providing HIV services and talked to HIV-positive patients, played friendly football matches with people affected by the epidemic. The members of the Team also gave TV and radio interviews where they called upon millions of young football fans to avoid actions that put them at risk for HIV and to respect rights of people living with HIV and break down barriers created by stigma and discrimination.

The members of the Regional Youth Team

“Young people are often not aware of the danger of AIDS,” said Farhod Tarifi 2010 Taekwondo Junior World Champion from Tajikistan and member of the Youth Team. “For them, it is just a word, something that can never happen to them. But unfortunately it can happen to anyone. Everybody should be prepared!” he added.

The Youth Team will promote solidarity with people living with HIV in their respective countries through the use of social media networks, fan-clubs, addressing their audiences at concerts and media interviews, participating in World AIDS Day events and other HIV-related activities. The Team will also participate in regional and international music and sport events such as the world university games Universiade 2013 which will take place in Kazan, Russia.

The members of the Regional Youth Team include DJ Vakcina (Disk Jockey, Armenia), Azad Shabanov (composer and singer, Azerbaijan), Ura Vashuk (composer and singer, Belarus), Kanykei (singer, Kyrgyzstan), Dara (composer and singer, Moldova), Julia Lasker (composer and singer, Russia), Farhod Sharifi (2010 Taekwondo Junior World Champion, Tajikistan), Vlad Darwin (composer and singer, Ukraine), Jassur  Mirsagatov (composer and singer, Uzbekistan).

The HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is still on the rise. An estimated 1.4 million [1.3 million – 1.6 million] people were living with HIV in the region in 2009, almost triple the number reported in 2000.

Elena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation announced the winners of the “Social Media and Mobile Phones for HIV Prevention” competition on 18 January 2012.  The project entries by South African non-profit organization Cell-Life and by Chinese internet portal Danlan were declared winners.  More than 50 teams from 19 countries took part in the competition.

“We’ve received lots of creative ideas. We were really impressed by the high level of proposed projects,” said Olga Rudneva, Executive Director at Elena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation. “The format of the competition has made it possible to select the best works and also to find new associates in the response to AIDS.”

Organized in collaboration with the UNAIDS High Level Commission on HIV Prevention, the competition was launched on June 2011. It aimed at identifying innovative projects that use popular communication technologies to spread knowledge about HIV among young people.

The idea for the competition emerged from the UNAIDS supported Social Media and Mobile Technology Symposium held at Stellenbosch University in South Africa on 2 May 2011. The contest provided medical professionals, software designers, social media marketing experts and non-government organizations working on AIDS with an opportunity to present HIV prevention strategies that use online technologies to reduce HIV infection among youth as well as reducing stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV.

Winning project Cell-Life from South Africa will aim at reducing HIV infections by providing HIV prevention messages to young people in Khayelitsha through mobile technologies. The second winner project, Danlan portal, will develop online games containing HIV prevention information focusing on men who have sex with men. Through online versions of games such as “Truth or dare”, players will be informed about the risks associated with unprotected sex and the importance of preventive measures.

"Social media is a major new channel of communication. It is changing fast, it is highly scaleable, and it is a powerful channel for influencing people's views and opinions,” said Geng Le, a Danlan company official.  “We think our programme is a simple way of getting across important messages about a serious issue. This will make it more effective and easily accepted by those it seeks to target”.

Both winners will receive grants worth US$ 10 000 each to implement the projects. Elena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation also plans to adapt the technologies proposed by the winning projects' to be used in Ukraine. 

According to Michael Bartos, Team Leader, Strategy, at UNAIDS the competition has given a boost to some of the most cutting-edge responses to AIDS. “Reinforcing HIV prevention needs to be a constant part of everyday life – as natural as receiving a text message or opening a web browser has become,” said Mr Bartos. “Elena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation has inspired an outpouring of new and creative ways of setting the world on the path to zero new HIV infections," he added.

The projects were evaluated by a jury consisting of leading technology and HIV prevention experts including Chris Hughes, Executive Director of Jumo International, Inc and a co-founder of Facebook; Garth Japhet, CEO of Heartlines and member of the UNAIDS High Level Commission on HIV Prevention Scientific Advisory Panel; Bill Roedy, former Chairman and Chief Executive, MTV Networks International; Debbie Rogers, Lead Strategist, Praekelt Foundation; Serge Dumont, Vice Chairman and Chairman Asia Pacific of Omnicom Group Inc. and Elena Pinchuk, founder and chair, Elena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation and member of UNAIDS High Level Commission on HIV Prevention.

The ANTIAIDS Foundation was founded by Elena Pinchuk in 2003 and is the first and the only privately funded anti-AIDS charity in Ukraine. The foundation aims to operate on all levels – from national projects to direct support to individuals affected by the HIV epidemic. The Foundation is known for implementing innovative and interactive projects using web-technologies.

The UNAIDS High Level Commission on HIV Prevention, launched on 21 July 2010, leads a global advocacy campaign to build broad support for effective HIV prevention programmes. It is co-chaired by Professor Francoise Barré-Sinoussi, Nobel Laureate in Medicine for her role in the discovery of HIV, and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and includes more than 15 world renowned leaders.