Thank you.
There is a misconception that these are strictly diseases of sub-Saharan Africa. About six years ago, prior to the start of the war in eastern Ukraine, I was involved in a project that was about to get off the ground, dealing with the HIV/AIDS epidemic in eastern Ukraine.
Most people don't realize that rates of HIV/AIDS in Ukraine at that time were about 1.4%, similar to rates in sub-Saharan Africa, but in particular in the Donbass, the region that currently has been invaded militarily by Russia and is at war. The rate at that time was approximately 6%, which is close to the rates in some of the worst-hit areas of southern Africa.
I am just curious. In the Donbass itself, a small sliver of land like the region between Ottawa and Toronto, there are approximately 300,000 people infected by HIV. There have been approximately 20,000 babies born with HIV, so I am curious as to whether or not you have any programs targeting that particular region.
It's a difficult region currently because it's in a state of war, but is there anything your organization is doing to target this epidemic in that part of eastern Europe?