Preventing HIV/STI Among Uniformed Services in Ukraine

Kiev, Ukraine, September 2009-More than 600,000 members of Ukraine’s armed forces and law-enforcement agencies have benefitted from a programme to help reduce HIV/AIDS infections in the country. Ukraine has the highest levels of HIV/AIDS infections in Europe. Funded by the European Commission and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme and other organizations, the HIV/STI awareness programme is part of a broader goal to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on Ukraine’s society and economy.

“Uniformed services, including defence and civil defence forces, are a highly vulnerable group to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) mainly due to their work environment, mobility, age and other facilitating factors that expose them to higher risk of HIV infection,” Katarina Rybalchenko, UNDP Ukraine’s programme manager, said.

In response, the programme, "HIV/STI Prevention among Uniformed Services in Ukraine," has partnered with Ukraine’s government since 2005 to raise awareness about HIV and STI. Programme activities have included training courses and higher education courses for members of the uniformed services. Additionally, HIV/AIDS education has been added to the curriculum at Ukraine’s military and law-enforcement colleges. Publications on HIV/AIDS awareness have also been distributed to law enforcement staff and military officials. Other project segments have targeted families of military personnel at remote bases.

Such efforts come at a time when the number of reported HIV infection in Ukraine has grown every year since 1999. In 2008 the number of reported infections increased by 10 percent from 2007. “The HIV epidemic in Ukraine continues to grow at rapid pace, becoming the worst situation among the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia,” Ms. Rybalchenko said.

These rates of infection affect not only human health, but also Ukraine’s economic health. Early death or disability from the disease has created a drain on incomes and social services. With many of the 1.63 percent of those infected in Ukraine in their most productive work years (individuals aged 15 to 49 year of age), reduced labor supply and inefficiency due to illness also affects Ukraine’s economic vitality. Women are also particularly vulnerable, and have higher infection rates than men.

The programme on "HIV/STI Prevention Among Uniformed Services in Ukraine" aims to reduce these surging rates of infection by creating a culture of safe behavior among the uniformed services. At the moment, the results are promising.

"Since the project inception there has not been registered one single case of HIV infection in the Ukraine's Internal Troops, which number more than30,000 personnel," Colonel Georgiy Fedorchuk, Head of the Psychological Support Department of the Internal Troops of Ukraine, said.