
Patients at Ukraine's main HIV hospital on Thursday handcuffed themselves to their beds in protest at plans for its closure. Three HIV-positive patients at the clinic in central Kiev handcuffed themselves to their beds in front of television cameras to protest at plans by the country's medical establishment to close the unit. "This is a war. Every war has victims. The cynical, cruel decisions taken by the Academy of Medical Sciences also have a price: our lives," said one of the protesters, Anna Konstantinova. The Kiev clinic, run by the Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases, is exceptionally well-equipped and staffed for Ukraine, one of the ex-Soviet countries with the highest rate of HIV infection. "This is the only place where people can save their lives and fight HIV," said another protester, Sergei Dmitriyev from the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, where there is no in-patient facility for HIV-positive patients. Since 2011, the hospital, which has around 9,000 registered patients from all over Ukraine, has been at the centre of an acrimonious conflict over its planned closure. The in-patients complained that the government had promised to keep the clinic open until a new purpose-built hospital was built in Kiev, but was now pressuring the staff to move the patients out before it was ready. According to UNAIDS, around 350,000 people are infected with HIV in Ukraine, which has a population of 46 million.
GMT 18:35 2018 Thursday ,11 January
Syrian refugee sets himself ablaze at UN office in LebanonGMT 18:48 2018 Tuesday ,09 January
Novo Nordisk woos Belgian nano-drug makerGMT 17:54 2017 Wednesday ,27 December
Medical evacuations begin from besieged Syria rebel bastionGMT 12:14 2017 Monday ,25 December
MoHAP successfully conducts cochlear implant operationGMT 18:24 2017 Sunday ,24 December
Palestinian conjoined twins arrive in RiyadhGMT 19:05 2017 Monday ,18 December
new! magazine names fitness & food editorGMT 17:03 2017 Wednesday ,29 November
Spain reports case of 'mad cow disease'GMT 14:05 2017 Saturday ,11 November
EU can't agree on new licence for controversial glyphosate weedkiller
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor