Elena Franchuk and David Furnish had meetings with HIV and AIDS positive Ukrainians

Head of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, David Fernish and the founder ANTIAID Foundation, Elena Franchuk have dedicated the first half of the Saturday, June, 16, to the study of situation on spread of HIV-AIDS in Ukraine. During their visits, they were accompanied by the experts from British and Ukrainian Foundations.

On Saturday morning the delegations visited Kyiv City infectious diseases hospital No. 1, located on territory of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (monastery), where they met AIDS/HIV patients, and also medical personnel of the hospital. The managers of the Foundations spearheading the fight against AIDS were in the details on arrangement of medical services provided to the patients, pharmacological aspects of the therapy, and also personal histories of the patients, their opinion about medical service and attitude of the community towards HIV positive people.

Then the managers of the Foundations an orphanage «Berezka» the only one orphanage in Kyiv City, where HIV positive children live. Elena Franchuk and David Fernish, together with the experts form British and Ukrainian Foundations spoke to the children and educational staff of the orphanage. They also visited one of HIV families livening in Kyiv.

«It is very important for the British specialists to understand the issue on the spread of HIV-AIDS in Ukraine, - said David Fernish, - to understand not only from the standpoint of dry statistics, but to study it in detail, through opinions and feelings of those people who were affected by this devastating disease. We need it in order to define the most effective facilities on the fight against AIDS in Ukraine and help the affected people. I do also hope that that the implementation of our joint program with the Elena Franchuk Foundation will help these children to find new families will be instrumental in the social rehabilitation of the children».

According to Elena Franchuk, «considering the current situation with HIV-AIDS epidemic in Ukraine, it is vitally important to bring international expertise into the country, since lack of experience and knowledge generates such state of affairs. Our joint project will enable the Elton John Foundation to expand its activity in Ukraine, and this is very positive, because the Foundation of Sir Elton is one of the largest world's organizations fighting against AIDS. This Foundation has accumulated enormous experience in (which is very important for Ukraine) in the field of social adaptation of HIV positive children».

The joint project launched by the Elena Franchuk «ANTIAIDS» Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation is to be implemented within the framework of a new program of the «ANTIAIDS» Foundation, «On the edge». The Foundation of Elena Franchuk intends to allocate $ 2, 5 mln for this project during five years. The goal of the project is to provide social rehabilitation services to HIV positive children. The project is intended to help them live a wholesome life, and the Ukrainian society accept these children as valid citizens. The project's long-term objective anticipates that all children affected by HIV-AIDS epidemic be eventually adopted by foster families.

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