On Tuesday, April 10, at 2:00 pm, press conference “Expanding Free Legal Aid and Preventing Stigmatization of People Living with HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis” will be held at news agency Glavcom (8/20 Shovkovychna St.)

On Tuesday, April 10, at 2:00 pm, press conference “Expanding Free Legal Aid and Preventing Stigmatization of People Living with HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis” will be held at news agency Glavcom (8/20 Shovkovychna St.)

Between 1987 and September 2017, 310,680 cases of HIV were officially recorded among Ukrainian citizens, including 99,694 cases of AIDS and 43,958 deaths due to AIDS-related illnesses.

Unfortunately, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) continue to fall victim to discrimination and stigmatization, including when trying to exercise their social and economic rights, particularly the right to medical care, and labor rights. 8% of respondents diagnosed with HIV/AIDS have experienced discrimination and stigmatization in the healthcare sector. Out of those, 89% were denied medical services in institutions not specializing in treating PLWH, and 11% – in Centers for the Prevention and Treatment of AIDS.

Despite the existence of a free legal aid (FLA) network, the lack of access to justice and violated rights to a fair trial have become a serious problem in Ukraine, especially for PLWH, the communities that are most vulnerable to HIV, and people diagnosed with tuberculosis. PLWH and drug addicts are unable to get FLA, in accordance with the law.

In light of this, expansion of efforts to help people living with HIV and TB will be announced at the press conference, specifically:

• providing free legal aid through UHHRU legal aid centers;
• combating stigmatization of PLWH and tuberculosis;
• providing legal assistance in preparing documents for the European Court of Human Rights and subsequent court proceedings;
• developing amendments to the relevant legislation of Ukraine.

Speakers:

Oleksandr Pavlichenko – Executive Director, UHHRU.

Yevhen Zakharov – Director, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group.

Dmytro Sherembey – Coordination Board member, All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS.

Natalya Kozarenko – coordinator of UHHRU legal aid centers.

Contact: Maksym Petrov (UHHRU), 095 483 48 45.

The event is held with the financial support of the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS within the framework of the project “Investments for Combating TB and HIV”, supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.