International HIV and Viral Hepatitis Testing Week started in Ukraine
From November 18 to 24, the 5th International Week of HIV and Viral Hepatitis Testing will be held simultaneously on five continents in more than 50 countries around the world.
Initiators of the week of testing, a coalition of NGOs Coalition PLUS, which fights against HIV and viral hepatitis around the world, note that the call of the initiative is to unite countries in their fight against epidemics and encourage people to get tested. Activists, NGOs, and government agencies are implementing additional prevention measures, raising awareness, and talking about innovative prevention tools such as self-testing and PrEP. Each year, more than 10,000 people are tested on five continents as part of Testing Week.
“The Fifth International Testing Week is a reminder of the urgent need for immediate and decisive mobilization to defeat HIV. Despite the progress that has been made, it is imperative that we take immediate action to reach the goal set by the United Nations: to reduce new infections to less than 370,000 per year by 2025,” said Coalition Plus, the initiators of Testing Week.
It is estimated that approximately one million people in Ukraine do not know they have hepatitis C. One in three HIV-positive Ukrainians is unaware of their status. CO “100% Life” by joining forces with “Your Family Doctor” in partnership with the Center for Public Health reminds that HIV testing is easy, fast and free. We should mention that HIV and hepatitis testing is accessible in Ukraine. People can get a free rapid test for viral hepatitis and HIV at their family doctor’s office.
You can learn all about HIV and sexual health and take an online screening to assess your own risk of HIV infection at https://prozdorovia.in.ua/anketa/
The screening results will help you understand if HIV testing is recommended. On the Testporuch website, you can order an oral HIV test by mail. It is also possible to use the option of rapid testing in the premises of specialized NGOs.
“The core message remains the same: knowing your status is a prerequisite for taking control of your health. The full-scale war multiplies additional challenges and threats, both for the health system and for the population. But even under the pressure of these circumstances, our HIV testing and prevention projects are fully operational, and we are expanding and strengthening our capacity according to the needs of different regions,” says Dmytro Sherembey, Head of CO 100% Life.
For International Testing Week, the Public Association “Your Family Doctor” brought together 36 doctors from different parts of Ukraine, who became ambassadors for the project. They will focus on testing people and spreading the word about testing opportunities throughout the week.
To engage and educate the health professional community, the Your Family Doctor project has prepared a list of useful materials for International Testing Week to help doctors engage patients in testing. Special creative posters for participation in the online flash mob can be downloaded from here. The posters will help you share your own activities during the Testing Week, using the campaign hashtags #РазомНеСтрашно #ТестуйсяВІЛьно
Comprehensive information on HIV and hepatitis, as well as online screening options to identify HIV risks, are available at prozdorovia.in.ua.
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International HIV and Hepatitis Testing Week was created by Coalition PLUS, a coalition of NGOs fighting HIV and viral hepatitis around the world.
Coalition PLUS is the largest francophone coalition, working in about 50 countries and comprising about 100 organizations. CO 100% Life, the largest patient organization in Ukraine, joined the Coalition in 2020 and became the provider of the International Testing Week in Ukraine.
