Number of HIV-Infected in Ukrainian Capital Grows

This year, the World Health Organization (WHO) has rated Ukraine as the most “unsafe country in terms of the increase in number of HIV-infected persons.” Especially serious is the situation in Kyiv: in 1999, 961 HIV- infected persons were registered here including 7 children, compared to 117 persons over the period 1987 to 1995.

According to WHO experts, for each detected HIV-infected person there are ten cases of undetected infection, and thus the real number of virus carriers in the capital is estimated to be over 30,000. Incidentally, the official figures for this country on the whole show that the number of infected persons in 1998 was 40,000.

“Most HIV carriers are under 26 years of age, and are drug abusers,” The Day was told by candidate of medical science Maryna Slobodiannyk, Deputy Director of the Kyiv Clinical Center for AIDS Prevention and Control. In addition, she stressed that during the two weeks of the Center’s operation they have had about 100 patients, including three pregnant women. Two patients have died.

According to Ms. Slobodiannyk, the Center is forced to allocate at least UAH 150 for one patient daily. As a rule, the patients themselves cannot cover such costs.

Doctors predict that in the immediate future Kyiv risks the number of HIV-infected increasing in a geometric progression.