Church responds to rapid spread of HIV in Ukraine

Irina Anatolievna, a mother of three sons who was diagnosed with AIDS, supports a program that provides a holistic response to HIV. MCC news photo: Melissa Engle

Too weak to walk, Irina Anatolievna crawled to Second Baptist Church located just a few metres from her house in Simferopol, Ukraine, a city of about 360,000 people.

The day before, she had been released from the women’s prison in Crimea and sent home to die.

Her drug addiction had not only resulted in a prison sentence; it had also given her HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Two years later, Anatolievna’s zest for life inspires everyone who meets her. “I’m experiencing the miracle of God,” said Anatolievna, 41, as she relates how the church congregation helped her find the spiritual, medical, physical, and financial support she so desperately needed.

Mennonite Central Committee supports the Second Baptist Church program with a grant of $4,000, as well as material aid such as health kits, school kits, second-hand clothing, soap, and other hygiene supplies.

Yet, for Anatolievna there are major challenges to overcome. Recent changes in her life are having a positive impact on the lives of her two younger sons who are now also part of the church congregation. But her eldest son has been in jail since he was 17 and remains at high risk of exposure to drug addiction and HIV infection.

Rising prevalence

The rapid spread of HIV is one of the most pressing social, economic, and political issues facing Ukraine today. In the early 1990s the World Health Organization estimated about 1,500 people in Ukraine were infected with HIV. This was one of the lowest infection rates in Europe.

The reported number of cases in Ukraine is now over 400,000, about one per cent of the adult population. HIV prevalence increases to seven percent in the prison population.

More awareness on HIV prevention is needed to reduce the spread of the virus, says Anatolievna, wishing that her son could have participated in the HIV prevention program run by the Second Baptist Church in a pre-detention institution for 60 young offenders, ages 14 to 18.

This project does more than provide medical information about HIV, says the program’s medical consultant, Dr. Elena Filipieva. It also focuses on self-esteem, anger management, healthy relationships, the consequences of addictions, and God’s unconditional love.

“We have to start the process with healing their minds and souls – the next step is to bring knowledge,” Filipieva explains. “We give them direct, pure information about AIDS but that is just a small part of the whole program.”

Pavel Genadievich, director of the institution’s social education and psychological work, says this holistic approach does more than reduce the spread of the virus. Helping young offenders adopt and maintain healthy behaviours is also a crime-prevention strategy.

It may be too late for Anatolievna’s eldest son to learn about the risks of HIV infection through the church-run program in the pre-detention centre, but program volunteers are visiting him in prison and plan to assist him when he is released in 2008.

—Gladys Terichow, MCC