|
|
|
The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
|
| 26.04.2004 |
|
| FEATURE: A Struggle with Drug Dependency and HIV/AIDS |
| |
Thousands in Ukraine Still Waiting for Anti-retroviral Drugs
ODESSA, Ukraine/GENEVA, 26 April 2004 (LWI) – Sergei Fyodorov has known his HIV status for the last nine years. In 1995, then a student and struggling with drug dependency, he was tested for HIV without his knowledge. The doctor who told him that he was HIV positive, provided no further information. Fyodorov, obviously shocked, could not believe that he had become infected in his hometown, the Black Sea city of Odessa. At that time he knew very little about HIV/AIDS, only that it was supposed to be an incurable viral infection found in the United States of America.
He did not tell anyone in his family about the test results. But he informed his friends who, like himself, were unable to free themselves from drug dependency, and many of whom soon discovered that they were HIV positive.
The outgoing 30-year-old recounted his HIV status and present activities during a Lutheran World Federation (LWF) HIV/AIDS consultation for European church leaders, April 20-25, in Odessa, Ukraine. Fyodorov appeared like a young Ukrainian executive, with no hint of his former drug problem. In a hesitant voice, he told of his second HIV test in 1999. It brought back memories of his stay in a psychiatric clinic undergoing drug detoxification. But he never got any real treatment there. He was simply under lock and key, without medication or care. It was difficult to stop taking drugs suddenly, all the more if one was HIV positive, he said.
Doctors at the clinic disclosed the results of Fyodorov’s second test to his family without informing him or seeking his consent. This is in violation to Ukrainian law, as HIV-positive persons have a right to anonymity. Asked how his mother at first reacted to news about her son’s status, Fyodorov said she probably already suspected he was HIV positive. The doctors had suggested that she buy special crockery and cutlery for her sick son so that the rest of the family would not be infected. It was not until some time later, and after his mother had learnt more about HIV/AIDS, that Fyodorov could again eat normally with his family.
In his struggle against drug dependency, Fyodorov received support from friends who had managed to quit the habit, and also from various church institutions in Odessa. From the moment he realized he had to do something about his drug problem if he was to achieve anything in life, it became easier. But before then, it was a long and difficult path.
Today Fjodorov is a member of the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, and administrative chairperson of the self-help group and non-governmental organization (NGO) Life Plus, founded in 1999 by people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) in Odessa. With 46 members and many volunteers, most of whom are PLHA, it runs an out-patient AIDS support center, and is active in prevention and education work.
Marina is one of the beneficiaries of Life Plus. Now 40 years old, she learnt at the birth of her fourth child that she was HIV positive and had passed on the virus to her baby. With the help of Life Plus and the NGO, Doctors without Borders, she was able to save her child’s life. She received the necessary baby food, medication and treatment free of charge. She was homeless at the time, her husband had died, and so she had to place her children in an orphanage. With the help of Life Plus and her mother who had moved to Odessa, Marina was able to find a one-room flat where she now lives with her four children. She is one of Life Plus’ volunteers working to help other PLHA.
Each month, more than 500 affected people come to the Life Plus center. In Odessa alone, there are over 6,400 officially registered HIV positive people. According to UNAIDS estimates, 250,000 inhabitants of Ukraine, about 1 per cent of the population aged between 15 to 49 are infected with the virus. The victims are mainly intravenous drug users, sex workers and men having sex with other men. But the HIV/AIDS pandemic is increasingly affecting other social groups as well.
Another important task for Life Plus is legal counseling. As Fyodorov reported, in Odessa employers compelled employees to take an HIV test and, if the result was positive, workers were dismissed without notice or reasons for dismissal.
One of the main problems encountered by Life Plus is providing anti-retroviral drugs to those affected by HIV and AIDS; only about 120 patients in Odessa are receiving such treatment. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GF-ATM) estimates that in Ukraine at least 4,000 people should have access to anti-retroviral therapy in a first phase of such treatment. The GF-ATM had already reached an agreement with NGOs in Ukraine to make funds available to buy drugs, but support was suspended at the beginning of the year after an evaluation of the partner organizations indicated mismanagement and delays in implementing the programs. The country’s PLHA are now hoping that the financial aid will start again soon so that they can benefit.
Fyodorov described it as outrageous that many people had to die simply because they had no access to anti-retrovirals. He himself is currently in very good health, and does not require this type of medication. State authorities had given an assurance that funds would be available in June to purchase drugs for at least 4,000 infected people, but few believe this promise, he said.
Concerning the future, Fyodorov hopes that progress in medical research would lead to better treatment opportunities. Until then, he is grateful that he can depend on anti-retroviral drugs. He is focussed on continuously learning to live with the infection and helping others do the same. Advocacy on the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, is another of his priorities.
About 40 representatives of European LWF member churches including women and youth leaders, and staff of regional and international NGOs attended the Odessa HIV/AIDS consultation. The meeting organized by the LWF in cooperation with the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ukraine was the last in a series of four regional conferences under the LWF global campaign against HIV/AIDS, and its plan of action launched in May 2002 under the title, “Compassion, Conversion, Care: Responding as Churches to the HIV/AIDS Pandemic.” Regional conferences have taken place also in Africa, Latin American and the Caribbean, and Asia. (1,082 words
|
If you want to edit this article yourself and adapt it to a given format, follow our editing information
|
|
|
|
|
|
