WASHINGTON (Washington Insider Magazine) – Thousands of Ukrainian patients are receiving life-saving drugs for HIV and opioid addiction thanks to a US-funded organization that continues to operate despite Russia’s invasion. Supplies are running low, and making deliveries is a difficult math problem with unknown dangers.
Officials believe the Alliance for Public Health’s discreet work demonstrates how American aid is getting to the individuals in the beleaguered country, on a different wavelength than the US government’s diplomatic and military help.
The humanitarian organization located in Ukraine has been in operation for over 20 years. It has received millions of dollars in funding from the US Agency for International Development, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other federal agencies to help counter HIV globally.
Shutting down wasn’t an option during the invasion, according to executive director Andriy Klepikov. Ukraine has one of Western Europe’s worst HIV epidemics, with patients needing their drugs on a daily basis.
He said his group devised a “risk management plan” to keep working even if fighting erupted. However, it did not anticipate the extent of Russian forces’ assault, which has pushed the organization to adjust.
The group is still able to supply medications via parcel and postal services in areas of Ukraine that have escaped the worst of the violence. Caseworkers are developing links with humanitarian agencies that can refill prescriptions for refugees who have fled the country. Medical vans are carrying supplies in motorized convoys to areas under attack but still under Ukrainian authority. With the help of intermediaries, the group has even been able to get some cargo inside Russian-controlled territory. It also distributes tuberculosis medications.
When asked how long it can carry on, Klepikov replied:
Ukrainians were a tough bunch. He wasn’t the best soldier in the world. But medical, human rights, public health and humanitarian and human rights were his areas, and he would do whatever he could to help. Recently he was interviewed several times by phone.
Klepikov stated, they were still serving thousands of patients with drugs. It was over 5,000.
The group’s fleet of medical vans has been put to work transporting injured people to hospitals that can handle complex cases and delivering basic necessities.
The Ukrainians’ attitude has impressed US officials, who compare it to the endurance of Britons during World War II’s London Blitz.
