9 November, 2015 23:42

Statistics on HIV/AIDS in Ukraine on 01.11.2015

During the ten months of 2015 – 12 992 new cases of HIV infection were registered (2 489 of them are amongst children under 14 years old). Altogether 277 481 new cases of HIV infection were officially registered in Ukraine since 1987. Since 1987 – 37 583 died from AIDS associated diseases in Ukraine, with 409 cases of death amongst children. Ukraine keeps the leading position in Europe in terms of new HIV infection cases. According to UNAIDS experts’ assessment about 290,000 people in Ukraine live with HIV/AIDS.

Since 2008 the main cause of HIV transmission was sexual contacts. In 2005 only 33% of those newly infected got HIV through sexual contacts, and in 2012 the percentage grew up to 51%. For the first time in the history of AIDS epidemic, transmission via sex accounted for more than a half of all cases of HIV transmission in Ukraine. In 2015 60% of newly infected got HIV through sexual contacts (57% in 2014).

Today most of the newly – registered cases of HIV infection are amongst young people aged from 15 to 30.

Every year a number of newly registered HIV cases has been steadily increasing in Ukraine, though since 2005 the growth of new HIV cases (epidemic acceleration) started decreasing yearly: there were 15,6% increase in 2005 compare to 2004, and only 3,4% increase in 2011 compare to 2010.

In 2012 number of new HIV cases has dropped for the first time in the history of Ukraine – according to official statistics in 2012, HIV infection spreading rates (the number of new cases of HIV infection) turned out to be lower than in 2011. The positive result was achieved due to number of national programs aimed at the most at risk population and due to massive information campaigns on AIDS prevention in media.

In 2014 the amount of the new cases of HIV, officially registered in Ukraine, increased considerably. The growth of the epidemic of HIV/ AIDS comes amid the collapse of market of condoms – basic means of protection from HIV/AIDS.

In 2014, because of the loss of control over certain regions of our country there are no official statistical data, which could be fully comparable with data in 2013. But in spite of this, one could argue that the flywheel of HIV/AIDS epidemic begins to spin again. According to the data of the first quarter of 2014, when the Ukrainian Center on Control over socially dangerous diseases was receiving full data from all regions of Ukraine, the number of new HIV cases increased by 6 percent over the first quarter in 2013. According to experts by the end of 2014 the epidemiological situation in our country became even more critical.

The growth of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ukraine was triggered by the rapid destruction of the infrastructure of health care delivery and by closure of programs to address HIV/AIDS epidemic. Due to deterioration of an economic situation in our country, Ukrainians decrease condoms purchase – the most affordable and reliable means of protection against AIDS.

According to the largest condoms distributors in 2014 on average sales of all means of protection from infections sexually transmitted dropped 10% compare to 2013. Thus in the last quarter of 2014 monthly consumption of condoms decreased almost by 25 per cent against the same period in 2013. According to the forecast for 2015 market downturn will be even more significant.