The first nonprofit medical center “100% of life” was opened in Kyiv

The largest patient organization, the All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH, on the eve of the World Remembrance Day of AIDS Victims, opens a non-governmental medical center (Mezhygirska 87-A street) which is a unique development of the patient community. Here both HIV-positive people, key affected population representatives, and all other Kyiv citizens will be able to receive the novel quality of medical care in Ukraine.

“On the eve of the World Remembrance Day of AIDS Victims, we emphasize again – HIV is no longer a verdict. We, as patients, know how important it is to receive medical services without discrimination. The “100% Life” Center is a unique product of the patient community evolution. It will provide an alternative option of receiving services, global treatment protocols, novelty medications and, most importantly, the absence of stigma and discrimination against all patients, regardless of their status. Zero discrimination and 100% tolerance are our main value”, said Dmytro Sherembey, Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH.

The center will service both the general population and representatives of risk groups. General practitioners of family medicine, infectious disease specialists, neuropathologists, narcologists, psychiatrists, dermatovenerologists, gynecologists and other medical doctors will work to provide the services to the public. The medical center will also have a temporary hospital stay ward and a procedure room.

The possibility for all patients to conclude a contract with a family doctor and receive services envisaged in the state health reform program is still another option available through the Center. “100% of life” Center is already connected to the eHealth electronic medical system.

The medical center is a non-profit facility. Some of the medical services for patients will be guaranteed by the state within the scope of the reform. All proceeds from paid services (for example, some types of laboratory analysis) will be invested in developing services for patients.

Volodymyr Kurpita, Director of the Center of Public Health of the MoH of Ukraine, in convinced that “Ukraine is in the active phase of the health reform. This is an example of effective integration into the reform and partnership between the state and civil society, where the patient is the key beneficiary”.

The project of the “100% Life” Medical Center was developed with the financial support of international donors – the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Expertise France 5% Initiative. And the cutting-edge medical equipment of the gynecological cabinet was contributed by the Olena Pinchuk Foundation.

Olena Pinchuk, Director of the charitable foundation: “The society caring about female health is the society caring about its future. That is why our foundation decided to equip the gynecological cabinet with the most advanced equipment. This will allow providing quality services for women and initiate the necessary treatment on time”.

The center will offer different categories of laboratory tests, including a rapid HIV test. If a patient receives positive result, they will be able to seek psychological counseling and assistance from the social worker with the subsequent support. Family doctors, when communicating with the patient, will be able to recommend HIV screening. Thus, the Medical Center will solve one more problem − the detection of HIV+ patients. Currently in Ukraine only every second HIV-positive person knows about their status.

“More than 12,500 HIV-positive patients are currently registered in Kyiv. The launch of such a center in the capital will help to achieve its ambitious goal of becoming a leader among the cities in which the HIV/AIDS epidemic is being successfully curbed in the framework of the Fast-Track Cities Strategy”, said Mykola Povroznyk, First Deputy Chairman of the Kyiv City State Administration.

We would like to remind that in 2016, Kyiv joined the “race of capitals” within the framework of the UNAIDS Fast Track Cities strategy and set the ambitious aim of becoming the first city in Eastern Europe to reach the 90-90-90 goals. This is when 90% of HIV-positive people are aware of their status, 90% take ARV-therapy, and 90% of the patients receiving treatment have undetectable viral load in their blood.

Simultaneously with the opening of the center in Kyiv, a flashmob “100% of Life – 100% of Tolerance”, will run in all regions of Ukraine, during which activists call on all health facilities to ensure 100% tolerance to each patient.

FB hashtags #100Life #FightForLife #100відсотківжиття  #100відсотківтолерантності.

Media contacts: Natalya Krasnenkova, 067 465 54 26, krasnenkova@prhouse.com.ua, Sofia Hurmak 063 870 85 51, Daria Kovalenko 095 419 67 98

Background data of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ukraine:

We would like to remind that during the epidemic from 1987 to 2016, 45,775 Ukrainians died of AIDS. Tuberculosis remains the main co-infection and lethality factor in AIDS patients, which during the first quarter of 2018 caused death in every second case of AIDS death.

However, in recent years, the HIV mortality rate has decreased by 11%, being 10.4 deaths per 100 thousand of population in 2016 against 11.5 in 2013. During the first quarter of 2018, 767 deaths from AIDS were recorded, compared to 792 for the same period of the last year. The AIDS mortality rate was 1.8 per 100 thousand of population versus 1.9.

During 3 months of 2018, the number of newly diagnosed HIV cases in Ukraine decreased from 4,728 to 4,358, the incidence rate decreased by 7.2% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 10.3 versus 11.1 per 100 thousand of population.

As of April 1, 2018, there were 143,766 HIV-positive citizens of Ukraine enrolled in health care facilities, of which 45,019 were diagnosed with AIDS.

As of April 1, 2018, 91,605 people received treatment, while back in 2009 this indicator was 15,871 people. Therapy allows people living with HIV to live.