ACET Ukraine is growing rapidly with educators in seven major cities, and a national programme of training conferences. Ukraine has a very serious AIDS problem: one of the world's fastest rates of increase of HIV infection. Ukraine has the highest prevalence of HIV among the CIS countries (an estimated 1% of adult population).

The first HIV cases were detected in 1987. Since 1995, the virus has spread dramatically, due to HIV transmission among injecting drug users. But the proportion of sexually transmitted HIV cases is increasing fast (from 11% in 1997 to 28% in 2002), transmission from injecting drug users to their sexual partners taking the leading role. There is an urgent need to expand the national response to HIV, which requires additional resources.

With a population of 48 million, Ukraine is also facing a challenge in moving towards a market economy with increased levels of unemployment and poverty. Despite rapid economic growth, conditions for ordinary people are often very difficult with severe poverty away from major cities.

GIVE NOW TO ACET UKRAINE

ACET history in Ukraine:

For several years representatives of ACET Czech Republic, ACET Slovakia and ACET Russia have worked together to try to establish prevention and care programmes in Ukraine working with several different denominations. They carried out many visits in response to invitations from Ukrainian churches, with the aim of raising awareness of the threat of AIDS at every level.

Training programmes, workshops, seminars and conferences have been held in Vinice, Lvov , Uzgorod , Perechin , Kiev , Novovolynsk , Kremenchuk , and Zitomir. Growing numbers of schools have requested AIDS prevention programmes in Kiev, Novovolynsk and Zitomir, and teams have already started work. Teams have also been welcomed into Universities and in Kiev , at least one project has already started looking after people with AIDS.

There is a particularly strong team in Zhitomir, led by Anatoliy Evdoschuk, supported by Viky Ovsianikovawhich, and is the administrative base for the developing national progeramme. Anatoliy is the national leader for ACET Ukraine.

Many churches in Ukraine have grown rapidly, and have a long history of working with drug users, enabling many thousands to overcome addiction and return to normal life. Large numbers of former drug users are now church members and sadly many are infected or becoming unwell.

In one church alone, there are over 1,000 former drug-users, and there will be many challenges in terms of pastoral care and support, as well as looking after orphans.

ACET Ukraine is seeking to encourage churches throughout the country to respond to the AIDS challenge in practical, compassionate ways: caring for those affected and saving lives through effective prevention. We do not have much time to prevent further rapid spread, not only among drug users, but also amongst their partners and others who are at risk.

Who is doing what:

Tomas Rehak from ACET Czech Republic established links over five years ago with a group of pastors in the Ukraine, where he spoke at a conference about sex, AIDS, relationships and birth-control. In the summer of 1999, Milan Presburger from ACET Slovakia visited the city of Krivoj Rog, 280 km from Odessa in the Ukraine.

They conducted presentations about AIDS and relationships for about 300 young people. Milan and his team also discussed with local leaders the possibility of ACET commencing a work in the Ukraine in the spring of 2000. Since then Tomas Rehak has returned many times to the Ukraine, and has established teams of schools educators in five different regions, laying the foundations for a new national programme.

This is being modelled on the success of ACET Czech Republic and ACET Slovakia, who each see around 60% of all secondary school pupils in classes by the time they leave school.

The work in Ukraine is being further aided by the fact that Russian is widely spoken, which means that books, posters, teaching materials and training videos produced by ACET Russia are able to be used, while other resources are being prepared in Ukrainian.

ACET Czech visits Kiev and Uzghorod

From 4-6th February representatives of ACET Czech visited Kiev and taught at a seminar together with a representative of the government Department of Schools, responsible for HIV prevention. 25% of the seminar attendees were HIV+. These infected people shared both sad and encouraging testimonies.

GIVE NOW TO ACET UKRAINE