Mennonite
Central
Committee

In Ukraine, HIV education takes on urgency as numbers climb

Gladys Terichow
November 17, 2006

ZAPOROZHYE, Ukraine -- When Natalia Starastenkova completes her 12-hour shift as a security guard she doesn't go home to rest.

Five mornings a week, Starastenkova goes to public schools in Zaporozhye to teach a healthy living educational program designed to stop the rapid escalation of HIV infections in the country, especially among youth who are at a higher risk of exposure.

Launched five years ago in Kiev, the program is now also offered in 10 regions in Ukraine for students in Grades 8 to 11. The program was introduced last year in Zaporozhye where it is taught in 11 of the 110 public schools.

Education is the key

"I'm convinced it should start in Grade 1," says Starastenkova, emphasizing that education is the key to supporting those living with HIV, stopping the transmission of the disease and promoting healthy life styles.

Through a series of 36 lessons, trained volunteers teach a program approved by the government for use in public schools. This is one of several programs supported by Mennonite Central Committee in Ukraine related to AIDS. In 2006 the MCC Generations at Risk program has provided grants of $12,500 Cdn. /$11,000 U.S. to support HIV prevention programs in Ukraine.

The rapid spread of HIV is one of the most pressing social, economic and political issues facing Ukraine today. In the early 1990s, shortly after Ukraine gained its independence from the Soviet Union, the World Health Organization estimated about 1,500 in Ukraine were infected with HIV. Today the rate is nearly 400,000 or one per cent of the adult population.

Two Grade 11 students, Eliena and Anton, say the program helps them understand the influence of the public media, the power of peer pressure and the consequences of the decisions they make.

"A person is created to live, not to die from AIDS," says Eliena. "These lessons challenge us to think if it pays to taste all these things that life offers young people. Young people have to think of the consequences of the choices we make."

Today's influence

They say youth are influenced by television programs, music, advertisements and billboards that promote sexual activities. "Everyone is shouting the message of sex -- free sex, to taste life while you are young." says Anton. "If the government doesn't put limitations on the public media it will be difficult for young people to make good choices."

The lessons also help youth understand that it is important to choose friends who have shared values. "Everybody needs a strong opinion about major issues," notes Eliena, emphasizing she has decided to make healthy life choices as a means to protect herself from getting HIV. "You can choose your own group of people who can support you in these situations."

Anton adds, "Everyone should be aware that the consequences of your decisions will be carried by you and not by the group."

Heterosexual transmission now account for a growing number of HIV infections, says Irina Manakova, a trained volunteer working with Starastenkova in Zaporozhye.

The program, she says, encourages frank discussions about long-term benefits of sexual health and addresses misconceptions that the disease is primarily associated with commercial sex, injecting drug users and men who have sex with men.

Lessons that focus on relationships, friendships and peer pressure set the foundation for discussions on HIV, the importance of young people being accountable for the decisions they make and the consequences of these decisions, explains Manakova.

 

 

Gladys Terichow is a writer for Mennonite Central Committee.