USAID health and social sector programs are assisting Ukraine to reduce the transmission and impact of HIV/AIDS; and to improve health and social conditions. The United States Government puts a high priority on combating HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis (TB). These initiatives are in response to the rapidly escalating HIV and TB epidemics. Other health and social priorities support family planning/reproductive health policies and services, prevention and control of avian influenza, family and community care of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), andmaternal and infant health (MCH).

Avian Influenza

Building on efforts initiated during the 2005 Avian Influenza outbreak USAID supports ongoing activities aimed at reducing transmission of animal-to-animal and animal-to-human transmission of Avian Influenza through: increasing knowledge of preventive behaviors; improving the capacity of health, veterinary, and emergency authorities to identify and respond to outbreaks; improving bio-security in poultry production settings; and strengthening AI awareness and preventive practices of border and customs services personnel.

The efforts are concentrated in fourteen oblasts including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Kherson, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Sumy, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhya, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Poltava, Cherkasy and Volyn oblasts.

Read more about Rapid Response to Avian Influenza in Ukraine.

HIV/AIDS

USAID continues to provide support to reduce the transmission and impact of HIV/AIDS through the: 1) promotion and adoption of preventive behaviors; 2) expansion of access to quality HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support services for most-at-risk populations; 3) development of public and nongovernmental institutional capacities to plan, manage and evaluate HIV/AIDS programs; 4) mitigation of stigma and discrimination toward those affected; 5) prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission; 6) implementation of approaches to address the needs of HIV-affected children; and 7) strengthening of the policy environment for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support. USAID also supports a Ukrainian Media Partnership to improve awareness of HIV/AIDS among the general population and specific target groups such as youth, injecting drug users and other vulnerable populations. In implementing program activities, USAID programs strengthen collaboration between local governmental departments, NGOs and communities in high priority regions.

In 2008, to address the particular needs of HIV-positive injecting drug users, USAID will initiate a pilot program of substitution maintenance treatment, which will support 150 injecting drug users with comprehensive treatment and care services.

USAID programs leverage Global Fund (GF) grant resources by providing technical and management support to organizations implementing GF activities and by adding resources to specialized technical areas, such as prevention of mother to child transmission, TB/HIV co-infection and orphans and vulnerable children.

USAID HIV/AIDS prevention efforts are concentrated in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Donetsk, Kherson, Cherkasy Oblasts and Kyiv.

Read more about Reducing Stigma & Discrimination Associated with HIV Infection and AIDS Program, Scaling Up the National Response to HIV/AIDS through Information and Services (SUNRISE), and HIV/AIDS Service Capacity. 

Maternal and Infant Health

Through partnerships with Donetsk, Lviv, Volyn, Dnipropetrovk, Luhansk, Zhytomyr, Kirvohrad, Rivne, Poltava, Zakarpattya, Zaporizhzhya, Chernivtsi, Kharkiv, Odesa, and Mykolayiv oblasts, Kyiv city, and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, USAID assistanceaims to improve maternal and infant health services and outcomes through: the broad implementation of evidence-based interventions to strengthen perinatal practices and services; the dissemination of clinical guidelines and training of health professionals; the development of centers of excellence to serve as models for training and education; and the implementation of communications activities to increase awareness of effective birthing and childcare practices. At the national level, USAID assistance is also strengthening development of protocols and educational curricula on perinatal care for medical universities and institutes.

Read more about Maternal and Infant Health Program II.

Reproductive Health/Family Planning

This initiative seeks to reduce high rates of abortion through increased use of modern contraceptive methods. Program activities make family planning/reproductive health services more widely available; educate the population about the benefits of family planning; and improve the quality of counseling provided both within public sector facilities and at pharmacies. This project works to make family planning and reproductive health services more accessible to the population, and improve the quality of these services to bring them in line with international standards. Simultaneously, it educates the population—both men and women—about the importance of family planning for family health, and the benefits of family planning over abortion. Through an innovative public private sector partnership with pharmaceutical companies, the program has expanded access to a broader range of moderately priced methods in target sites. Finally, program support to Ministry of Health development of a Cabinet of Ministers-approved Reproductive Health of the Nation Program has increased the political commitment and funding for implementation of FP/RH activities nationwide, including procurement of contraceptives.

The project now works in 7 oblasts - Kharkiv, Lviv, Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Odesa, and Vinnytsya. Next year the program will expand its activities to Ivano-Frankivsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Khmelnytskyi, Rivne and Cherkasy oblasts.

Tuberculosis Prevention and Control

The goal of the project is to help Ukraine achieve a 70% TB case detection rate and an 85% treatment success rate by 2011, thereby contributing to a reduction of TB morbidity and mortality. Activities undertaken shall enable the Government of Ukraine, in partnership with Ukrainian civil society at the national and local levels, to take critical policy and programmatic actions to improve the prevention, detection and treatment of tuberculosis (TB) and TB-HIV co-infection.

The project seeks to expand the quality and availability of WHO- recommended Directly Observed Treatment, Short Course (DOTS) approach in oblasts with a high TB burden; build capacity to implement DOTS Plus programs for multi-drug resistant/extensively drug resistant TB; and improve access to TB/HIV co-infection services. To enhance the sustainability of DOTS interventions, USAID assists with building a policy and legislative environment that reduces barriers to care and enhances access to DOTS and DOTS Plus programs.

USAID TB program is currently working in Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Odesa, Lugansk, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, in Kyiv and Sevastopol.

Read more about TB Control in Ukraine Program.

 

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