More than 140,000 Ukrainians are currently officially recorded as having HIV, though the true total could be much higher.
According to the charity 100 per cent Life, the largest patient organization in Ukraine, more than 250,000 people live with the immunodeficiency virus and more than 100,000 may not even know they have it.
Recent Trends
Over the years, new methods of HIV prevention and opportunities for testing have emerged in Ukraine.
Information campaigns, support initiatives and treatment programs have helped to reduce the number of people with HIV and lower the risk of transmission.
HIV remains an epidemic and each figure is static, i.e. once a figure is counted then it stays at ‘1’.
The best course of action, therefore, is to reduce the growth rate of patients.
In general, However, the greatest threat is still those who have not been identified.
In terms of morbidity, Ukraine currently ranks second only to Russia in the wider region encompassing Eastern and Central Europe.
Limited testing and misinformation
As with many countries, there is no mandatory annual testing for HIV in Ukraine, for example by employers.
In addition, many Ukrainians lack the correct information. For example, they believe that only prostitutes and drug addicts are at risk of contracting HIV.
The reality is quite different and anyone can be at risk of contracting the virus from an infected person in the transmission of blood and other bodily fluids such as semen, vaginal fluids, breast milk and the lining inside the anus.
Anyone with a sexual partner may be at risk, since intercourse is the most common way in which it is transmitted.
Attitudes to healthcare compounds the risks.
For whatever reason, many people tend to postpone a visit to their doctor until they feel they really need it or start to feel very unwell.
How to take an HIV test
Today, one can get a HIV test from a hospital, a clinic, or without even leaving home.
A home test is free, comes in a box and instructions, and can be completed using an oral swab and indicator device in 20 minutes.
One line on the indicator – you are healthy; while two means you should get checked again at a medical center or hospital.
Are HIV medicines available in Ukraine?
As soon as a Ukrainian learns of his/her HIV-positive status, they are offered free antiretroviral therapy. This involves taking one pill a day, albeit for life.
The pill reduces the viral load in the blood to a virtually undetectable level and is designed to help the individual live a life as normally as possible.
This is also intended to improve the safety of others where there is a chance of blood or other fluid transmission.
Meanwhile, medical science continues to progress. Every year, scientists are moving closer and closer to finding a cure for the disease.
However, there is a problem. The immunodeficiency virus lurks in the human body.
That is, one requires medicine that can not only destroy the virus, but find it.
According to activist Dmytro Sherembey, founder of 100 per cent Life, the last three years have been the most productive.
It was during this time that scientists, including at Oxford University, created a vaccine which is currently being tested worldwide. Ukraine is not on the list of countries conducting research.
However, Dmytro believes that there will be an effective vaccine and it will eventually reach Ukraine.
In addition, medicines are currently being developed to stimulate HIV cells and release them into the general bloodstream.
Following this, antiretroviral therapy has a better chance of being able to completely destroy them.
This could in theory lead to those living with HIV being able to get a negative test.
