[The joint work of NGOs and UNAIDS in realizing a project for the prevention of HIV/AIDS among people using narcotics by injection in a region with relatively low rates of HIV infection spread]. / Sovmestnaia rabota NPO i IuNEIDS v realizatsii proekta po profilaktike VICh/SPIDa sredi lits, upotrebliaiushchikh narkotiki in''ektsionnym putem, v regione s otnositel'no nizkimi tempami rasprostraneniia VICh-infektsii.

In recent years the Ukraine has become the epicenter of AIDS in Eastern Europe, though there are still regions with a relatively low number of HIV-infected persons, such as Vinnitsa Province. After the comprehensive study of the factors contributing to the spread of HIV infection in groups of risk the realistic evaluation of the epidemiological danger could be made and the preventive work could be carried out with the help of collaboration between a non-governmental organization (NGO) and the UN Theme Group on the Problems of HIV/AIDS. The successful work of the Public Congress "Stalist" one of such NGO, in Vinnitsa in 1998-1999, carried out with the financial and methodological support of UNAIDS in the Ukraine, created conditions for the introduction of such components of the strategy of harm reduction as information and educational work, as well as the exchange of syringes and needles, which showed a high degree of efficiency in controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS.