Ukrainian Community

Ukraine achieved independence in 1991 and started to experience significant increased economic growth in 2000. But advances in the country have been limited because of political instability, growing inequality and extreme poverty.

HIV is spreading rapidly in Ukraine and the region has the fastest-rising HIV rate in the world. As many as 410,000 Ukrainians are HIV-positive, with a majority of those infected being under the age of 30.

While the spread of HIV used to be primarily driven by the use of contaminated injecting equipment, the virus is now spreading through unprotected sex. And with many of those newly infected being young women, transmission from mother to child is a growing concern.

Abandoned and homeless children and adolescents are also especially vulnerable to the spread of HIV. Because of a lack of education, limited access to resources and extreme poverty, street children, some as young as five but most of whom are in their teens, do not know how to protect themselves against the virus.

UNICEF is working with the Ministry of Health and local health and outreach organizations to improve the lives of AIDS-affected children, adolescents and young people. Through mass-media campaigns, we are educating young people about how to protect themselves against the virus. Baby-friendly hospitals are treating HIV-positive pregnant women with antiretrovirals during pregnancy, labour and delivery to prevent transmission of the virus to her newborn child. Care and support outreach centres are reaching out to street children, encouraging them to leave life on the street for a more supportive environment. Children who have lost their parents or other family members are accessing services, including psychosocial and recreational programmes, to help them overcome the trauma of losing a loved one. And health care providers are being trained on how to provide treatment to HIV-positive children.

* Names have been changed to protect privacy.