Since beginning of 2014 Ukraine saw a 7% reduction in death rate from AIDS-related diseases

Ukraine has achieved some positive developments in combating HIV/AIDS. However, the situation in the country still remains difficult, acting Health Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Lazoryshynets stressed at a briefing at the Government House on the occasion of World AIDS Day, which was founded in 1988.

During the ten months 2014, Ukraine has seen a 6,7% decrease in AIDS incidence rate compared to the same period last year (there were registered 16,500 new cases of diagnosed HIV), mortality from AIDS-related diseases, decreased by 7,9%. Thus, the level of infection remains unchanged (over 8 thousand HIV-infected people were diagnosed with AIDS).

Vasyl Lazoryshynets also noted the constant tendency to decrease number of new cases observed among young people, as evidenced by the decrease in the spread of HIV / AIDS among this population group from 21.8% to 9%. Over the past 3 years has decreased the level of initial infection with HIV in injection drug users by 17%. Moreover, Ukraine among all countries of the Euroregion has the best downward trend in mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), which now is 4,28% compared to 29% in 2004. In early October, about 150 thousand of HIV-infected persons were under the supervision in health care facilities in Ukraine.

Despite a 27-year period of HIV spread in Ukraine, the epidemic today is concentrated in most at risk groups: injection drug users, men who have sex with men, female sex workers, prisoners.