Equal opportunities for treatment of drug-addicted people in Ukrainian prisons and outside

This week separate NGOs started an information campaign against introduction of substitution maintenance therapy (SMT) in Ukrainian prisons. The situation is absurd since substitution therapy is not applied in prisons in our country.

In relation with this, non-government organizations, which are responsible for introduction of programs of substitution maintenance therapy within the framework of the General State Program for Provision of Preventive Therapy of HIV-infection, Treatment, Care and Support of HIV-positive and People with AIDS for the years of 2009-2013, approved by the Law of Ukraine, dated as of February 19, 2009, ref. # 1026-VI, inform the following.

SMT programs have been implemented in Ukraine for already more than 5 years and as of today, more than 4,500 drug-addicted people are being treated in 24 oblasts of Ukraine, cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol, and more than 3,700 patients get treated with methadone.

In total, 1 million of drug-addicted people get SMT in 65 countries (including all countries of the European Union, without any exception) and in 37 countries, SMT treatment is provided in prisons.  

Implementation of SMT programs in Ukraine is being carried out on the basis of the above indicated Law of Ukraine, the Decree of the President of Ukraine and dozens of orders of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

Currently, SMT is not applied in places of temporary detention and in penal institutions. Accordingly, drug-addicted patients of SMT, who have become inmates due to different life circumstances, do not have an opportunity to continue their vitally important treatment (unlike having a possibility for uninterrupted treatment of other serious diseases, like: diabetes, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis etc. ), which is a violation of the current legislation.

For quite a number of years, non-government organizations, which operate in the area of prevention of HIV/AIDS and drug addiction, persistently work for all citizens of Ukraine, despite their social status, to have equal, guaranteed by law, access to treatment of chronic diseases, including, situations when they find themselves behind the bars.

We hope that a balanced approach of the mass media in their coverage of socially relevant information will allow to communicate to broad masses the objective real picture regarding such effective and scientifically verified method of drug addiction treatment and HIV/AIDS prevention, as substitution maintenance therapy, which has already been applied in Ukraine for a long time.

ICF “International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Ukraine”

All-Ukrainian Charitable Organization “All-Ukrainian Network of PLWHA”

ICF “William J. Clinton Foundation”

Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy

International Renaissance Foundation

World Health Organization Country Office in Ukraine

Additional information can be obtained over the following telephones:

 4905485, 8(050)3825178, ICF “International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Ukraine”

467-75-67, 8 (067)462-49-43 All-Ukrainian Charitable Organization “All-Ukrainian Network of PLWHA”

2226271, 5281754 Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy

44 4619500, 8(050)3834413 International Renaissance Foundation

4258828*78403  World Health Organization Country Office in Ukraine

			Olena Kucheruk, tel: +380 (44) 461 97 09 | fax: +380 (44) 486 76 29 email: kucheruk@irf.kiev.ua office: Kyiv, Artema Street, 44, room 4