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Ukraine
The Joint Programme made significant contributions to restoring, maintaining and scaling up HIV services while mitigating the impact of the war on healthcare and humanitarian responses. For instance, 203 generators distributed to facilities offering HIV and tuberculosis services ensured uninterrupted services during power shortages. Moreover, 19 mobile clinics provided HIV treatment services in hard-to-reach areas. In addition, technical support missions assessed and strengthened provider-initiated HIV testing and counselling services in primary healthcare facilities in 12 regions (WHO).
Ukraine continued to expand pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services reaching more than 12 350 people in 2023) and introduced a new long-acting injectable formulation of cabotegravir for PrEP (WHO). The national HIV prevention standards were revised for the provision of HIV services ahead of the new procurement cycle in 2024 (UNAIDS Secretariat). In addition, a combination of virtual and community-led outreach service model was piloted to scale up HIV testing and treatment services among people who use new psychoactive substances (UNODC).
As part of the Pubertat sexuality education campaign, seven educational videos on diverse issues, including HIV prevention, sexual and reproductive health, healthy relationships and sexual orientation reached about eight million people and gained 15 000 followers on Instagram (UNFPA).
More than 55 000 women accessed HIV and sexually transmitted infection services as well as unplanned pregnancy and emergency contraception through 108 Service Delivery Points across 23 regions (UNFPA).
Community-led monitoring (CLM) of HIV and tuberculosis response were strengthened through several measures supported by the Joint Programme, namely: the development of a new framework for CLM; revision of the national strategy aimed at removing legal barriers to accessing HIV and tuberculosis services; and sustained advocacy for the de-criminalization of HIV exposure and transmission (UNAIDS Secretariat).
The SCALE initiative was launched to advance strategies aimed at addressing discriminatory and punitive laws in Ukraine through technical support from the Joint Programme (UNDP). A large forestry company with 30 000 workers nationwide integrated provisions on gender equality, violence, harassment and HIV-related stigma and discrimination into the collective bargaining agreement which was adopted in December 2023 (ILO). In addition, 32 enterprises adopted HIV workplace programmes to eliminate HIV-related stigma and discrimination at work following 2000 advocacy meetings held by 50 trained labour inspectors from the State Labour Service (ILO).
Access to HIV prevention and testing services was scaled up for women and girls at risk of gender-based violence in Dnipro following expansion of the integrated HIV and gender-based violence model replicated from Odesa. For example, 1899 survivors of gender-based violence in the city received comprehensive integrated psychosocial support and HIV screening services (UNFPA).
In the area of humanitarian response, 183 728 beneficiaries, including people living with HIV and people from key population groups received nutritional support through collaboration with the All-Ukraine Network of People Living with HIV. A total of 236 000 women also benefited from the Inter-Agency Emergency Reproductive Health Kits for Use in Humanitarian Settings donated by the Joint Programme (WFP). Moreover, 75 lawyers from Free Legan AIDS Centres improved their capacity of delivering non-discriminative and non-stigmatizing services among people living with HIV who are seeking to restore their identity cards to regain access to healthcare services (UNHCR).
Community-led safe spaces in seven cities across Ukraine provided evacuation from war-affected areas, HIV and basic healthcare services, psycho-social support to 620 women living with HIV affected by the war (UN Women). The Joint Programme further supported 13 non-governmental organizations and 15 health care facilities in six cities to provide humanitarian support, including shelters and safe spaces to 21 500 people living with HIV and people from key populations (UNAIDS Secretariat). Finally, technical support and coordination helped mobilized US$ 165 million from the Global Fund for the national HIV and tuberculosis response for the 2024-2026 grant period.