Project description

Title: German-Ukrainian Partnership Initiative to Respond to HIV/AIDS
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG)
Country: Ukraine
Overall term: 2008 to 2010

Context

Ukraine has the highest HIV infection rate of any country in Europe. Over one percent of the population is already infected with the HI virus. And according to latest estimates by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS – UNAIDS the percentage is even higher in the 15-49 age group. Many of those affected are unaware of their infection. Those that are aware rarely receive counselling or adequate treatment. Ignorance and uncertainty are widespread and those affected by the illness often experience social exclusion.

Building on the successful cooperation in the field of HIV/AIDS during the German presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2007 and various twinning and grant projects, GTZ launched the German-Ukrainian Partnership Initiative to Respond to HIV/AIDS in early 2008 on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG).

Objective

The availability and quality of services aimed at the prevention, testing, treating, care and mitigation of impact of HIV/AIDS have been improved. Prejudice, and therefore the social exclusion that often accompanies an infection, have been reduced.

Approach

The project’s priority areas for promotion are prevention, diagnostic and treatment, evaluation and civil society partnerships. Regional priority areas lie in Western Ukraine and the Donetsk region.

A key objective of the project is to establish long-term cooperation and an ongoing exchange between German and Ukrainian actors and experts in the field of HIV/AIDS. Regional actors and international stakeholders are also to be integrated. Experts and multipliers will receive special training, and there will be targeted support for advisory and support institutions that deal with high-risk groups such as commercial sex workers and men who have sex with other men.

GTZ is advising the Ukrainian health ministry on developing a national campaign to combat HIV/AIDS. To this end, a specially appointed working party visited Deutsche AIDS Hilfe (the national German AIDS organisation), the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA) and the German AIDS Foundation in Berlin and Cologne as part of a week-long study tour in August 2009. The lively exchanges of experience focused in particular on fundraising, campaign design, as well as monitoring and evaluation. The nationwide information campaign will have its public launch to coincide with World AIDS Day on 1 December 2009.

The project is directly associated with two projects commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ): ‘Health Reform and AIDS Prevention’ and ‘HIV/AIDS Prevention in Eastern Europe’.

Further information

• German-Ukrainian Partnership Initiative to Respond to HIV/AIDS
  http://www.hiv-initiative-ukraine.org/...