Public health considerations over HIV amidst war and COVID-19 in Ukraine: Harnessing contemporary history to address the syndemic

Safeguarding HIV prevention and care services amidst military conflict: experiences from Ukraine

Ukraine stands out among European countries concerning HIV epidemiological data. Since February 2022, the military conflict with Russian forces has posed unprecedented challenges to HIV prevention and care. AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), a global non-profit organisation with operations in Ukraine since 2009, implemented a preparedness plan to protect staff members and support local facilities in the continuity of care throughout the war. In this manuscript, we describe the strategies adopted by AHF to anticipate the risk of military conflict, steps to implement a preparedness plan, main challenges faced by local staff members and managers, adaptations needed as the conflict evolved, and indicators of HIV care 1 year before and 1 year after the onset of the conflict. Our experience shows that safeguarding the organisation's human resources has been a prerequisite to sustain services throughout the war.

Google Trends Analysis Reflecting Internet Users' Interest in Selected Terms of Sexual and Reproductive Health in Ukraine

INTRODUCTION

The war in Ukraine has had adverse impacts on all areas of life, including health-related issues. Limited access to medical care increases the need to look for alternative sources of medical information.

AIM

To analyze trends of Internet users' interest in sexual and reproductive health in Ukraine based on Google Trends.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The retrospective study was based on the analysis of terms related to sexual and reproductive health searched by Ukrainian Internet users. The tool used was Google Trends. The period from 1 January 2021 to 1 January 2023 was analyzed. The time variability in search growths and peaks was assessed from the perspective of two time intervals (before the war and during the war) using the chi-square test.

RESULTS

Significant changes have been demonstrated in the interests of Internet users from Ukraine regarding selected issues of sexual and reproductive health during the ongoing war. Compared to the pre-war period, a marked increase was observed in active searches for terms such as "condoms" (p = 0.0081), "rape" (p = 0.0008), "syphilis" (p = 0.0136), "ovulation" (p = 0.0002) and "pregnancy test" (p = 0.0008).

CONCLUSIONS

The conducted analysis clearly indicates an increased need for information regarding sexual and reproductive health among Ukrainian citizens during the ongoing armed conflict. The analysis of trends among Internet users interests can be a valuable source of knowledge for decision makers, including human rights organizations, regarding the scope and coordination of activities aimed at protecting the sexual and reproductive health of the inhabitants of Ukraine.

Hospitalizations of Ukrainian Migrants and Refugees in Poland in the Time of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict

BACKGROUND

In the face of a sudden influx of several million migrants and war refugees from Ukraine to other European countries, knowledge about the health of Ukrainian citizens becomes increasingly important. The aim of the study is to identify the main health problems of hospitalized Ukrainian citizens residing in Poland in the period from 2014 to June 2022.

METHODS

This study is based on hospitalization data of Ukrainian patients in Poland taken from the Nationwide General Hospital Morbidity Study.

RESULTS

The study group covered 8591 hospitalization records. We observed two hospitalization peaks, one in patients aged 0-5 and the other one in those aged 20-35. After the official outbreak of the war, 2231 Ukrainian citizens were hospitalized in Poland. At this time, the most often reported principal reasons for the hospitalizations of adult women were diseases related to pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium, whereas in groups of adult men diseases were related to injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes, and in children and adolescents diseases were infectious and parasitic diseases.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings may have implications for healthcare policies and service provision to newly arrived migrants and war refugees in target European countries.