BMJ  2005;331:216-219 (23 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7510.216

Education and debate

Impact of transition on public health in Ukraine: case study of the HIV/AIDS epidemic

Diane DeBell, professor and director1, Richard Carter, research manager2

1 Centre for Research in Health and Social Care, Institute of Health and Social Care, Anglia Polytechnic University, Chelmsford CM1 1SQ, 2 Every Child UK, London EC2A 3DR

Correspondence to: D DeBell ddebell@compuserve.com

The link between HIV infection and human and economic development in Ukraine is a case study in the impact of economic transition on health

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Introduction

Ukraine has the highest per capita prevalence of HIV infection within Europe—1.4%.1 2 This poses a serious threat to the region's social and economic stability.3 Ukraine is geographically the largest country in Europe, apart from the Russian Federation. Economic growth year on year started in 2000, following a decade of recession during "transition" after the collapse of the Soviet Union (1989) and Ukrainian independence (1991). At current rates of growth, pre-transition levels of prosperity will not be reached until 2016.4

The impact of transition on public health is difficult to correlate precisely with socioeconomic and political change. The inability to manage the spread of HIV is one example of the way Ukraine's health system has been adversely affected by transition. HIV/AIDS is relatively new to the country, appearing in the mid-1990s, rising dramatically between 1995 and 2002, and continuing to rise at exponential rates (fig 1). The transmission route . . . [Full text of this article]

Health infrastructure

Attitudes to prevention and treatment of AIDS

Poverty and wealth in Ukraine

Population targeting


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