By Serhiy YEVSEYEV
Every 25 minutes one person dies of tuberculosis in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus,
and Moldova. Compared to early 1990s, the death rate related to this disease
has grown by 110%. Every year, 25,000-26,000 Ukrainians become infected
with the disease, and up to 8,000 die. The areas showing worst rates are
Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kherson, Rivne oblasts, and the city of
Kyiv. This was reported at a last week's press conference on adopting a
new long-term international humanitarian program called Ukrainian Red Cross
against Tuberculosis and AIDS.
The tuberculosis and AIDS epidemics go hand in hand. Their interaction
substantially increases the mortality rate. The death toll from the plague
of this century (AIDS) is already 311 Ukrainians. As of January 1, 1999,
there are 24,048 officially registered HIV-infected in Ukraine. And according
to the blood monitoring data, their number has reached 41,500 persons.
774 Ukrainians are already AIDS patients. Tuberculosis seriously deteriorates
the current state of the HIV-infected and decreases their chances of survival.
Currently, 35% to 50% of the HIV-infected suffer from respiratory tuberculosis.
National Red Cross Societies in Belarus, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine,
supported by the International Federation, have developed a joint program
to combat tuberculosis and AIDS. In the first year alone, implementation
of this program requires 9 million Swiss francs.






