Ukraine

Ukraine has one of the most severe HIV/AIDS epidemics in Europe, contributing to nearly 21 percent of the newly reported HIV diagnoses in the Europe and Eurasia (E&E) region in 2006. Ukraine’s first case of HIV/AIDS was detected in 1987, and the epidemic appeared to be confined to a small population of foreign students until the mid-1990s, when a sudden and explosive epidemic emerged among injecting drug users in the southern and eastern regions of the country. With 1.63 percent of the adult population estimated to be HIV positive in 2007, HIV has been detected in every oblast (province) of the country. Kiev, the capital city, and some regions in southeastern Ukraine account for more than 70 percent of all registered HIV cases in the country. The annual number of HIV diagnoses has more than doubled since 2001 and, according to UNAIDS, reached 17,687 in 2007. UNAIDS estimated that at the end of 2007, 440,000 people in Ukraine were HIV positive and that there were 22,000 deaths in 2005 due to AIDS.

Initial HIV/AIDS activities by USAID/Ukraine focused on building capacity among nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to conduct HIV prevention activities. The USAID/Ukraine HIV/AIDS strategy for 2003–2008 aims to reduce transmission of the disease through the adoption, promotion, and facilitation of protective behaviors; the strengthening of partners to plan, manage, and evaluate HIV/AIDS programs; and the reduction of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination. With its 12 implementing partners, USAID focuses its HIV prevention efforts in the oblasts that have the country’s highest HIV prevalence: Cherkasy, Crimea, Dnipropetrovs’k, Donets’k, Kherson, Kiev, Mykolayiv, and Odesa.

View the USAID HIV/AIDS Health Profile for Ukraine - September 2008 [PDF, 149KB]

Related Links

• USAID Mission in Ukraine
• Directory of Associations of People Living with HIV/AIDS [PDF, 896KB]
• Helping HIV-Positive Women Give Birth to Healthy Infants [PDF, 228KB]