OPINION: With the public health system under attack, they will need to work more closely than ever with civil society and community organisations to ensure that treatment reaches the people who need it. But they must also acknowledge that treatment alone will not be enough.
By Nana Poku
There is a famous French quote that a war is not an adventure; it is a disease.
Wars not only kill and maim people – they also disrupt and dislocate entire ways of life. Already in Ukraine, there are reports of hospitals and clinics that have been damaged or destroyed, and medical personnel becoming casualties.
Supply chains collapse, affecting the availability of basic necessities, and services such as the provision of clean water, functional sewerage systems and electricity generation are not spared. Those who live through war are subjected to serious trauma and health vulnerabilities, which can linger for decades.
Women and children suffer the most from the destruction and displacement in their role as carers and protectors of families with little or no resources.
This is what Ukraine faces. A brutal and indiscriminate invasion has generated more than 4 million refugees and displaced countless people. At the time of writing, the destruction continues apace.
At this moment of vast human suffering, it is difficult even to look forward, let alone create a list of priorities for an emergency response that is only beginning to take shape. But make no mistake – Ukraine’s plight is already a public health crisis, with many urgent issues piled atop long-standing health issues. Among these is HIV.
Ukraine has the second-largest HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, with more than 250 000 people living with HIV in the country, or around 1% of the population. For many years, Ukraine’s HIV epidemic was concentrated among people who used drugs, a group already facing significant challenges across the region.
The hard-won introduction of effective harm reduction services – led by civil society organisations like our partner in Ukraine, the Alliance for Public Health (APH) – has dramatically reduced the proportion of infections acquired through sharing needles. Indeed, thanks to APH and the community partners it works alongside, Ukraine had been a driving force for harm reduction compared with its neighbours in the region. But these types of services, vital though they are, are often among the first to be jettisoned as a humanitarian crisis deepens.
During the occupation by Russia, under which harm reduction essentials like methadone are illegal and needle exchange is highly restricted, they could face total obliteration, with dire consequences for the people whose health depends on them, and for Ukraine’s HIV response.
Russia does not provide accurate, up-to-date statistics on its HIV epidemic to UNAids, but the World Health Organization has estimated that new HIV infections in the country have been rising by 10 to 15% each year.
The conflict in Ukraine is already disrupting access to HIV treatment. People living with HIV may have only a few weeks remaining of the medication they need to stay healthy during this period of intense turmoil and danger. It is vital that the humanitarian clusters that are beginning to operate within the country, and in neighbouring states, take steps now to ensure that an adequate supply of antiretroviral treatment remains available, with the support of international donors and agencies like the Global Fund for Aids, TB and Malaria.
With the public health system under attack, they will need to work more closely than ever with civil society and community organisations to ensure that treatment reaches the people who need it. But they must also acknowledge that treatment alone will not be enough.
While antiretrovirals have transformed HIV from a life-threatening illness to a manageable condition, they are not sufficient on their own to avoid a dangerous resurgence of HIV – and certainly not in a country like Ukraine where only about half the people living with HIV were receiving treatment before the Russian assault began.
Extensive, targeted HIV prevention and harm reduction efforts must be part of the humanitarian response going forward, both inside Ukraine and in neighbouring countries. It cannot be either treatment or harm reduction – it has to be both.
This week we have launched an urgent appeal for our partner APH to sustain its essential work with people living with, and affected by, HIV in Ukraine. Throughout this crisis, APH continues to provide services, from HIV prevention and testing for the people and communities who are most at risk, to rapid emergency support for people living with HIV who have been displaced by the conflict.
In some cities, APH offices have been repurposed as shelters for marginalised groups, while the organisation’s mobile HIV testing units are being deployed to deliver food and medicines, and in some cases to evacuate its clients and their families to safety. As the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine grows, APH is providing a lifeline to thousands of people, including many of those who may struggle to access humanitarian support.
Right now, HIV is one danger among many for the people of Ukraine, but we must not let it slip from sight. The legacies of this war will be painful and enduring, but we can at least avoid adding to them through neglect.
* Professor Poku is chairperson of Frontline Aids and Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
** The views expressed here may not be that of IOL.