Caritas Kyiv presents a sociological study on HIV/AIDS situation in Ukraine

Recently, representatives of Caritas Kyiv participated in a conference held at the news agency Ukrayinski Novyny (Ukrainian News) in Kyiv, which was dedicated to HIV/AIDS. During the conference Caritas Kyiv presented the results of the survey “The current situation in the area of ​​treatment, care and support for children infected with HIV” to its partners and the press, reported Fr. Roman Syrotych, director of Caritas Kyiv.

At the presentation of the study there was the idea that the potential of the state to provide care and support to vulnerable groups of children and their families requires development and that the level of providing families with such services is still unsatisfactory. By estimates of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, as of the end 2007, the prevalence of HIV among the adult population of Ukraine (aged 15-49 years) was 1.63%. Today the figure is even higher, and this indicates that Ukraine has the most severe HIV/AIDS epidemic in Europe and the CIS. “According to the Ukrainian AIDS Center, only about four percent of people
voluntarily tested for HIV (if not to take into account pregnant women and patients who are tested on a mandatory basis) and currently know their HIV status,” says Halyna Korbelyak, coordinator of children and youth in Caritas Kyiv. The study developed a system of indicators for monitoring and assessing the care of HIV-positive children as well as recommendations for further improving the full integration of these children into society. Conclusions and developed recommendations are primarily designed for those who make decisions – government and nongovernment organizations, as well as those working in the field of the protection of children – because many families with HIV-positive children reported cases of discrimination of their children in schools and other children institutions in Ukraine, despite the fact that national legislation guarantees the right of children to obtain an education and social assistance despite their HIV status. For more than 10 years Caritas Kyiv is working on a daily basis with children and young people who are in critical conditions of life, among whom are also HIV-positive.   UGCC Information Department