EATG call to the Ukrainian Government to maintain the "Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases" (Kiev, Ukraine)

To:

The President of Ukraine

Yanukovich Viktor

11, Bankova Str.,

Kyiv, Ukraine 01220

Dear Mr. President,

The European AIDS Treatment Group would like to acknowledge the commitment of the Ukrainian Government towards people living with HIV/AIDS in Ukraine.

However as representatives of the Community of people living with HIV/AIDS in the European region, we are highly concerned by the intention of the Ukrainian government to close the “Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases” of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine directed by Dr. Hromashevskyi. For sake of simplification, we will refer to the Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases in this letter as ‘The Clinic’.

As you know, the Clinic benefits from a high reputation both in Ukraine and internationally and provides people living with HIV/AIDS from the region with the best medical practices for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care. It also serves as a strong base for advanced training of infectious diseases’ doctors from all over Ukraine and neighboring countries.

Furthermore, the clinic has been recently modernized, and re-equipped thank to the collaborative efforts of national and international organizations to ensure the best environment for effective medical care for HIV/AIDS patients.

Additionally, we would also like to draw your attention on the fact that the Clinic is the only institution at national-level providing diagnostics and treatment for HIV patients in an advanced stage of the disease, meaning that every year, thousands of patients from all over Ukraine and the CIS countries come to the Clinic with the last hope of receiving life-saving medical care.

Given the dramatically high rate of HIV infection in Ukraine, and taken into account the tremendous value of the Clinic for people living with HIV/AIDS, the European AIDS Treatment Group now calls upon the Ukrainian government.

Furthermore, on the eve of the World AIDS Conference to be held in Vienna in July 2010, EATG would also like to draw the attention of the Ukrainian government on the possible negative impact that the closure of the clinic would have in the international arena

In this context, EATG urges the Ukrainian government to fully maintain the “Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases” of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine.

Anna Zakowicz, EATG Chair

Copy to:

Dr. Peter Reiss, President of the European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS)

Mr Martin C. Donoghoe, Team leader, HIV/AIDS, WHO Regional Office for Europe

Denis Haveaux, UNAIDS Liaison Office to the European Union

European Union HIV/AIDS Think Tank

European Union HIV/AIDS Civil Society Forum (CSF)

Letter EATG to the Ukrainian Government- July 8 2010.pdf (258.98 kB)