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How do you fight HIV in the midst of war?

02.10.2024 22:57

NPR published an article about the challenges of fighting infectious diseases, especially HIV, among the displaced population in Ukraine. The article features the research work of Branco Weiss Alumna Tetyana Vasylyeva.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the availability of cheap drugs and widespread needle-sharing practices was one of the main reasons for the rapid spread of HIV. But in 2012, Ukraine’s annual rate of new infections dropped for the first time. However, Russia’s invasion of the country and the displacement of large parts of the population threaten to reverse this progress. In particular, the situation in the Russian-occupied cities of eastern Ukraine remains uncertain, as testing has all but ceased. Testing on mobile laboratories has become one of the answers to improve access to HIV treatment and prevention.

“I’m scared to think about what’s happening in these territories and what’s going to happen when the war ends,” the article quotes Tetyana Vasylyeva. “All of us are very hopeful it will end in Ukraine’s favor, but even then, there will need to be a lot of adjustment to make sure that HIV cases in these areas don’t seed outbreaks in the rest of the country when Ukraine is unified.”

Read the article on the NPR website