Category: News Archive

The #HelpNow team has prepared a detailed report for 2022 describiing all challenges and achievements so that every Ukrainian knows that #HelpNow is nearby and always ready to help!

In the first days of March 2022, a week after russia started its full-scale aggression against Ukraine, the APH developed and launched a unique service to support PLHIV and KP, who encountered difficulties in accessing treatment and other necessary services. Leaving their homes and becoming internally displaced persons or refugees in other countries created an additional barrier to access to vital services and jeopardized adherence to treatment and life for such people. #HelpNow has made it easy to reach people in need using various methods. The Hub team can quickly inform these people and direct them to the service they need in their new (temporary) location.

For ten months, from March to December 2022, #HelpNowHUB received more than 15,800 requests from Ukrainians in 47 countries and within Ukraine, coordinating through # HelpNowPL, #HelpNowDE, #HelpNowClinicalHUB and direct social support.

More details in the report:

Oksana (name changed) is a social worker. She herself has been living with HIV+ status for almost 20 years, her son also belongs to the PLHIV community. For many years she worked by profession, first in Poltava in an NGO, then moved to Kyiv, then to Stryi (Lviv region). From there they left for Poland when the war started. Oksana said that they were at the border for 5 days because they fell into the first “wave” of refugees. The son was 17 years old at that time, so they were released together. The first two months were spent in Siedlce (Poland) with friends, but the therapy was ending, so the woman began to look for information on where to get it. “That’s how I saw your contacts on Google for the first time. The manager answered very quickly and gave all the addresses. I was also interested in the situation regarding receiving ART in Gdansk, because we were planning to move there. I also received this information thanks to the HelpNow service, for which I am very grateful!”

After moving, Oksana and her son promptly registered, underwent examinations, and received an appointment for therapy. Barriers began to appear gradually. First, with the boy’s employment (he had already turned 18 at that time). Due to his work schedule, he could not always come to receive ART when he was prescribed. So Oksana started sharing her medicine so that there would be no interruption. She was issued for three months, and she came after one. “The woman at the ART office was very surprised why I appeared at her door so early. This continued until I learned from friends that it is possible to make a commission in my name and receive money for it. It helped.”

The woman shares that if there are no problems in the case of getting ART, it is difficult with the medical system in general: “Maybe we are so “lucky” with the hospital, because I hear that in Warsaw or Krakow everything is accessible and fast. But here, even an appointment with a family doctor takes a month, and tests take three. If you know the Polish language, they make concessions, and if not, you wait until they appoint it. What can I add… In short, it’s better at home!”

When Natalya left her native Kyiv for vacation in mid-February 2022, she never thought that week would last…almost a year already. The woman was in Georgia and was supposed to return home on the 23rd, at night, when the war began. ART she had only for an incomplete month, so that’s what she stayed there with. She says that with the Ukrainian passport there were no problems in issuing therapy and taking tests, but it was like that until November. Currently, the conditions for Ukrainian refugees have changed in the country and now the monthly course costs 50 lari ($18).

Natalya moved to Turkey from Georgia, but did not stay there for long – the conditions for people living with HIV and who are not citizens are unfavourable: to be registered for free therapy, you need to have an ikamet (residence permit) and only 12 months after that you can submit a request for medication. Few people want to go that way. Yes, there are funds that help support vulnerable groups of the population, and even with them, everything is not easy: obtaining a certificate from a local doctor, traveling to one of the five points throughout the country where ART is given for free… Or visiting private clinics for money. Natalya decided to move and chose Norway.

“I contacted your service when I was in Turkey. Googled, found contacts, wrote. You gave me all the information I was interested in. HelpNow is a really fast service, no problems.”

Natalya approached the administration in the refugee hostel, showed the certificates that she had and the drug wrapper. “They asked me for how many days I still have ART, I clarified that it is for a week, no more. And before the New Year holidays, they brought me a 3-month supply of medicine. A visit to the infectious disease specialist was scheduled for January 18 as well. By the way, he works 500 km from my place of stay, so they bought me plane tickets there and back. Tests, visits and therapy are also free. Current medicine is paid for, but if a person has HIV, tuberculosis or hepatitis, the costs are covered by the state. Thank you again for helping your service to inform and provide such much-needed support, especially now.”

We are already used to the fact that the stories of people who turn to the HelpNow service are always filled with care and concern from the parties receiving them. Unfortunately, it happens that not everything goes as it should, and there is probably just no place for compassion and understanding in the hearts of individual people. However, we share this story with you, because every conversation is a reality that is happening here and now.

Meet Valeriya (name changed). She is a refugee from the Zaporizhia region, since March 17 she lives in Poland, not far from Szczecin. The woman already works, has health insurance, is completely self-sufficient – she says that she has been used to being independent since she was a child. She has been receiving ART therapy at home since 2010. When her doctor heard that Valeriya was going to leave, she immediately prescribed therapy for six months. “It is a great happiness that she managed to distribute the medicine to her patients. Now our home is an occupied territory, and it is very difficult to say how it could turn out in the other case.”

When the ART began to end, the woman started looking for opportunities to register abroad and receive official treatment. While browsing sites on the Internet, she came across an advertisement for the HelpNow service – she quickly left a request in Telegram and within a few hours Valeriya had the address of the nearest medical facility. It seemed that everything was fine – woman got ready for the appointment, arrived at the hospital early. But when it was her turn and she asked to issue a medical card, instead of a greeting, she heard from the receptionist: “What, did you find out yesterday that your therapy is ending?” The woman was unpleasantly impressed. “I was confused, I didn’t even understand right away, I started to make excuses – I said that I knew before, but I didn’t expect that I would be forced to live in another country for so long, because I had already planned to go home a long time ago.”

She was scheduled for an appointment two days later. According to Valeriya, the doctor was extremely attentive, made a detailed examination, prescribed research, prescribed ART for the next three months and asked her to go to the registry office again for a referral. The same woman was there. “As soon as I approached, I heard “Again” in my direction. It was humiliating, but I remained silent. But when I said that the doctor asked to give me a referral, her reaction was: “Everyone is here.” It was terrible, I cried all day at home. Thank you for your support and sympathy, I have decided for myself that I will not be silent anymore. I will have another appointment in February and will definitely inform my doctor and the management about it.”

For our part, we advise everyone not to be afraid, but to share information with us, contact the administration of the medical institution, demand a meeting with the chief doctor and defend your rights. No one has the right to discriminate against another. Remember this!

Serhiy (name changed) and his wife left for Slovakia 5 months ago. The couple is from Mykolaiv, the man has been registered at the local AIDS center since 2001 to receive therapy. They didn’t plan to leave Ukraine until the last minute, but when it became very “hot”, they were forced to leave their home. 

Serhiy says that as soon as the doctor heard that the family was leaving, he immediately issued ART for three months. When couple arrived in Malatsky (Slovakia), they decided not to wait for time to pass, but to immediately look for a place to receive treatment in a foreign country. “At first, we called a doctor in Ukraine, but he could not help and said to turn to volunteers. The wife decided to “Google” at the same time and came across the HelpNow service.” – says Serhiy. “We used Telegram and already on the same day we had the contacts of the nearest medical institution from your team.” 

The family was met there in a very friendly manner – the doctor listened, did an examination as well as a blood test. According to the man, it took no more than 30 minutes to complete the procedure at the clinic. As a result, therapy for 2 months was immediately available. “Everything was very coordinated there. But what impressed me the most was that the doctor greeted me by the hand, you don’t often see that in our country. Thank you, HelpNow, for your help and promptness. Be healthy!”

Traditionell widmen Massenmedien bereits am 1. Dezember der Problematik von HIV/AIDS besondere Aufmerksamkeit und fordern die Menschen auf, gegenüber Menschen mit HIV so tolerant wie möglich zu sein. An diesem Tag möchten wir herzlich den deutschen Ärztinnen und Ärzten danken, die den Ukrainern seit den Anfängen des HelpNow-Dienstes in Deutschland helfen.

Sie waren es, die wiederholt nicht nur professionelle Beratung oder medizinische Untersuchung durchführten, sondern auch ukrainische   HIV-Patienten mit offener Seele und aufrichtigem Herzen behandelten. Hier, tausende Kilometer von zu Hause entfernt, sind Sensibilität und Verständnis das Wichtigste, was wir uns gegenseitig geben können.

Es waren diese Menschen, Ärztinnen und Ärzte, die schnell auf dringende Anfragen reagierten, die medizinische Probleme der Patienten oft selbstständig lösten und ihre Zeit opferten, um so schnell wie möglich zu helfen. Sie waren immer bereit, alles zu tun, um die Kontinuität der HIV-Behandlung zu gewährleisten.

Im Namen unserer Bediener und Patienten möchten  wir uns bei Dr.med.  Sabine Mauruschat, Dr. med.  Christoph Wyen, Dr. med. Tim Kummerle, Dr. med. Esther Voigt, Dr. med.Markus Müller, Dr. med. Pavel Khaykin und Dr. med. André Manutscharow bedanken.

Besonderer Dank gilt der deutschen Organisation, Deutsche Aidshilfe (DAH),  für Hilfe und Unterstützung bei der Gründung und Entwicklung unseres Dienstes, Schulungen, Advocacy-Unterstützung, Beratungen, operative Unterstützung und Zusammenarbeit bei der Lösung problematischer Situationen und insbesondere: Dirk Schäffer,  Referent für Drogen und Strafvollzug; Werner Bock, Fachliche Leitung Telefon- und Onlineberatung; Sasha Gurinova,  Referentin Internationales und Sergiu Grimalschi, Referent für Migrationsarbeit  Berliner AIDS-Hilfe.

Wir danken auch Frank Woike, Beauftragten Sucht und Suchtprävention der Landeshauptstadt in Hannover,  für die ständige und effektive Hilfe bei der Lösung schwieriger Situationen mit Zugang zur Substitutionsbehandlung   für ukrainische Flüchtlinge in der Stadt Hannover.

We invited infectious diseases doctors Zofia Bartovská and Dmytro Skirhiko to explain step by step what is needed to keep the continuity of your treatment.

Zofia and Dmytro share useful information from their own experience that will help you obtain health insurance and continue HIV treatment in the Czech Republic.

More details in the video:

Useful links:

Česká společnost AIDS pomoc

NGO “Dům Světla”

Website address: https://www.hiv-komunita.cz/ukrayina.html

Phone (with messengers): +420 720 956 544 / +420 725 960 300.

Email address: dmytro.skirhiko@aids-pomoc.cz

www.hiv-komunita.cz (https://www.hiv-komunita.cz/ukrayina.html)

To say that the path of Borys (name changed) from his native home to Belgium, where he is now, was difficult is an understatement. He was leaving the occupied Zaporizhzhia region, through the Crimea. At the border, interrogations began: “How do you feel about the special operation?” and “What do your friends and neighbors say about it?”. The man honestly answered that all actions on the part of russia will go down in history, after which they took away his phone and kept him on hold for 5 hours without any explanation. Later, they returned it and sorted all his luggage.

Borys was sure that they would find and take away the ART that the doctor had managed to give him before leaving, but they were only interested in the technique. Then transit to Lithuania and there again – the border and a day of waiting. When our hero got to the European Union, everything became much faster and in two days he was in Brussels. It was September 3.

At that time, therapy was on hand for three months, but Borys did not want to risk an interruption – he had been taking ART since 2015, and was registered with his wife in Zaporizhzhia. After calling his doctor, he asked for advice on where to go abroad. She recommended the HelpNow Service. “I immediately wrote to these contacts and was given the address of a medical facility in Brussels.” – says the man. “There was a hospital at the specified address. I don’t know the language, so I had to choose words, show the therapy that I had with me. I don’t know how, but they understood everything. I had there an appointment with an infectious disease specialist, they did a viral load test as well and gave permission to receive therapy for the next 5 months. You can pick up everything at the pharmacy at once, or come every month (I do), whichever is more convenient. After six months, again for the test. But I will add right away – all this is possible under the condition of official stay and medical insurance. By the way, the staff of the medical center has already hired a translator for Ukrainian refugees – this greatly simplifies everything. Thank you for your care and work! Let’s hold on!”

The war changed the life of every Ukrainian without exception, but it is essential not to forget about yourself and your health – it will always be relevant!

In the appeal of the honored doctor of Ukraine Svitlana Antonyak, you will find such important words of support and recommendations regarding HIV treatment.

What if you’re low on antiretroviral drugs, and you’re worried about stopping therapy, and the circumstances are such that you can’t get ART here and now?

More details in the doctor’s appeal:

It is important to strive to preserve the continuity of antiretroviral therapy, so the #HelpNOW service will always come to your aid, wherever you are!

Need help? Do not delay and apply: https://helpnow.aph.org.ua/online-help/

Lev is near Cluj-Napoca (Romania) now. He admits that since he started working as a volunteer (his team delivers food, clothes, and basic necessities to Ukraine), he began to spend more time abroad than at home. But even at the slightest opportunity, he immediately drove to his place – to Kakhovka (Kherson region). He was registered there, receiving ART for more than 4 years. 

With the beginning of the war, the situation changed: at first Lev moved to Lviv, where he stayed for several months. He says that the attitude was ambiguous – there are many displaced people, medical centers are overcrowded. “The doctors themselves admitted: “we have enough of our own, and here are you too…” – says the man. “I was lucky that I had therapy for three months after I left home. And then I decided that it is worth looking for opportunities to get medicine abroad.” 

Lev spent most of his time in Romania, so the choice fell on this country. “I simply Googled and found the HelpNow service. I am very glad that I contacted you – everything was prompt and professional.” The man went with his friend to the address he received: “I don’t speak English very well, and I don’t know Romanian yet. But my friend does and he knows that I need therapy as well.” There, in 40 minutes, the doctor invited them, made a thorough examination and sent Lev for tests. As a result, ART was issued for a month.

“It is interesting that in Romania there is a mono-therapy, and at home I had three jars. Easy. Thank you for your sincere desire to help!”