Author: Yana Kazmirenko, Ukraine
On December 1, a wide range of activities marked the World AIDS in Ukraine. On this day, the first in Ukraine online test for HIV was presented in Kyiv. It is available at HIVtest.com.ua or via a mobile application ‘HIV test.’
“The test makes an audit of your health, rapidly assessing the risk of infection, and offers information about the nearest testing sites,” said Dmitry Sherembey, the Chairman of the Coordination Council of the All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH.
Four weeks before the campaign, organizers placed billboards with the intriguing social advertising – a dangerous blade hidden in a juicy burger – in the streets of Kyiv. Dmitry Sherembey reveals the intrigue: for many people HIV is invisible, with 130 thousand out of 250 thousand people living with HIV in Ukraine not aware of their diagnosis.
The test contains about two dozen of questions – their number depends on the respondent’s lifestyle. For example, the question “Do you use condoms when having sex or not?” is relevant in Ukraine, where 51% of people living with HIV get infected through the sexual route of transmission. After a person answers all the questions, the test will show the probability of HIV infection and will show the information about the nearest clinic or confidential counseling room to get tested. The online test has been developed for two months and, according to Dmitry Sherembey, it shows the result that person is getting after the testing in 40% of cases.
Testing should become a routine procedure
According to Pavel Skala, Director of the Policy and Partnership at the Alliance for Public Health, the annual campaigns dedicated to the World AIDS Day should be changing and moving forward. On one hand, public awareness on HIV is growing, but on the other hand – people are losing interest in the repeating topics.
Testing should become a routine procedure for every Ukrainian, emphasizes Roman Ilyk, the Deputy Minister of Health. He says that over 50% of cases are diagnosed at the third and fourth clinical stages of HIV infection, when the person’s health is poor. 80% of people who die are 25-49 years old. The Ministry of Health called on Ukrainians to get tested for HIV and underlined that early detection of the disease allows to timely access treatment.
Interactive activities for teenagers
Every year, civil society organizations conduct campaigns for teenagers dedicated to the World AIDS Day. Alexander Mogilka, the coordinator of the social support project for adolescents at the Kharkiv Day Care Center for Children and Youth “Compass” thinks that the success of Ukraine in curbing the HIV epidemic largely depends on the progress in working with this target group. This year, “Compass” organized a quest called “The Safety Route” in Chervonohrad, Kharkiv region.
“The format of this game was developed by the German agency GIZ. The teams are to go through several checkpoints: contraception, routes of HIV transmission, environment assessment. When you answer a question, you may go to the next point,” tells Alexander.
He claims that 70% of “troubled” teenagers have experience of using drugs. Usually, these are children from dysfunctional families.
“Before, teenagers could access drugs through dens, but now they can just use internet and stashes hidden in agreed venues. There is a sad contrast: the drug business is developing and taking new forms and the prevention is lagging behind,” sums up Alexander.
He underlines that to develop new formats of working with young people – combining quests, flash mobs, and social campaigns – is a new challenge for civil society organizations.
