On February 6-7, the National Conference Enhancing linkage to HIV care for newly detected HIV-positive persons in Ukraine. Study results and best practices’ dissemination strategy organized by the Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy took place in Kyiv.
The conference was attended by researchers from the Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy, regional specialists, experts from the Public Health Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USA), as well as representatives of the research centers and medical schools of University of California, Columbia University and Brown University (USA).
Ukraine keeps one of the leading positions in Europe in terms of HIV prevalence. According to estimates, nearly 240,000 people live with HIV in Ukraine, as of early 2017. Over 100,000 of them are unaware of their HIV status.
Apart from low HIV testing coverage, there is another significant barrier to the HIV response in the country - every second PLWH in Ukraine does not seek care and is not registered with the healthcare facilities. If a patient does not receive treatment, this jeopardizes both person’s health and the environment, especially if practicing risky behavior. At the same time, if an HIV positive patient receives antiretroviral therapy, the risk of transmission to partners decreases significantly even at unprotected sex due to lower concentration of virus in the blood.
Anti-Retroviral Treatment and Access to Services (ARTAS) model has proven its effectiveness in linking HIV positive patients to care. It suggests that a person recently diagnosed with HIV immediately receives psychological, information and practical support from a social worker and seeks qualified assistance and treatment from a HIV-care facility.
In Ukraine, this successful technique has been modified based on the local context (the modified model was called MARTAS) and evaluated by the Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy. A new method of linking HIV positive people to care has been implemented and evaluated in healthcare facilities of three regions of Ukraine for four years with financial support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USA).
The results of the project were presented at the Conference by the experts of the Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy - Oleksandr Neduzhko, Oleksandr Postnov and Tetiana Kiriazova. The data presented by researchers show that MARTAS intervention is highly effective in terms of timely linkage of people with positive test result to HIV care. Identifying and using strengths of the patients helped them to increase their self-esteem, while motivation and comprehensive support from health workers encouraged them to initiate HIV treatment.
The proceedings of the Conference will be shared with the public health institutions for the development of the national guidelines – a platform for a broad implementation of the evaluated intervention in healthcare facilities.
Materials of the Conference (UKR/ENG)
Kiriazova T, Postnov O, Bingham T, Myers J, Flanigan T, Vitek C, Neduzhko O. Patient and provider perspectives inform an intervention to improve linkage to care for HIV patients in Ukraine. BMC Health Services Research. Jan 30, 2018 (ENG)
MARTAS Results Factsheet (ENG)
Speakers' presentations (UKR/ENG/RUS)
Global prospective and Ukraine on the Path to 90-90-90 (UKR)
Larysa Hetman, State Institution "Public Health Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine”
Заходи на базі доказової медицини для поліпшення залучення і утримання в програмах лікування (UKR) / Evidence Based Interventions to Improve Linkage and Retention in Care (ENG)
Janet J. Myers, University of California, Prevention Research Center
Modified Antiretroviral Treatment Access Study (MARTAS): General Introduction (UKR)
Oleksandr Neduzhko, Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy
Adaptation of the Effective Intervention ARTAS to the Ukrainian Context (UKR)
Oleksandr Postnov, Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy
Evaluation of MARTAS Effectiveness: Results and Recommendations (UKR)
Oleksandr Neduzhko, Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy
Сприйняття інтервенції MARTAS клієнтами (UKR) / Recipients’ Perception of MARTAS Intervention (ENG)
Tetiana Kiriazova, Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy
Національні зведені рекомендації з ВІЛ/СНІД щодо залучення до отримання допомоги (UKR) / National HIV Consolidated Guidelines Linkage to Care (ENG)
Violetta Martcynovska, L.V. Gromashevsky Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases of NAMS of Ukraine, State Institution "Public Health Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine”
Поточний стан і перспективи лікування ВІЛ-інфекції (UKR) / Current Status and Prospects of HIV Treatment (ENG)
Timothy Flanigan, Alpert Medical School, Brown University
Тестування інтегрованої комбінованої інтервенції в пунктах довіри для поліпшення послуг з лікування ЛВІН в трьох містах Казахстану (RUS) / Testing an integrated combination intervention in Syringe-Exchange Programs to improve treatment cascade among people who inject drugs in three cities in Kazakhstan (ENG)
Assel Terlikbayeva, Columbia University Global Health Research Center of Central Asia
Public Health Science: Ukrainian Prospective (UKR)
Konstantin Dumchev, Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy
