The Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy was exclusively engaged as a study location in a large scale trial carried out in Eastern Europe and Central Asia by the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN); HPTN’s efforts mainly focus on developing and evaluating new strategies in HIV prevention. The study in question was developed by HPTN to assess efficacy of a new approach to HIV treatment for HIV-infected injecting drug users and prevention of HIV transmission to their uninfected injecting partners.

The Kyiv meeting on An integrated intervention to engage people who inject drugs in HIV care and MAT (HPTN 074): a randomised feasibility and efficacy study brought together a team of professionals and stakeholders, including William C. Miller and Irving F. Hoffman (USA) – leading HPTN 074 study investigators, UIPHP representatives, implementing Ukrainian partner agencies in the fields (namely the Gromashevsky Institute for Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases (NASU) and Aeneas (NA) Club NGO) as well as other government and public stakeholders involved in promoting most effective best practices in treatment and prevention of socially hazardous diseases including HIV/AIDS. 

Epidemiologist Violetta Martsynovska of the Public Health Centre (MoH of Ukraine) presented an overview of HIV epidemic in the country and stressed that almost half (according to some estimates 44-60%) of all HIV transmission cases in Ukraine occur as a result of injecting drug use. 

William C. Miller, MD and Irving F. Hoffman, MPH (Ohio State University, USA) made a presentation of the study objectives, methods, and specifics of overseeing the HPTN 074 study on three locations, namely in Ukraine, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Overall 502 HIV-infected PWIDs were engaged in the study (index participants and 806 uninfected injecting partners). HIV infected indexes were randomly assigned to a standard of care group as per national recommendations or intervention group; participants in the intervention group were also followed up with continuous psychological counselling, ART treatment and MAT for a period of 12 to 24 months. The study also aimed to analyse whether there will be a drop in HIV transmission from infected indexes to uninfected injection partners.

UIPHP study investigators, including Kostyantyn Dumchev, Tetyana Kiriazova, and Oleksandr Zeziulin presented key study results for Ukraine. 

The study team ascertains that the piloted integrated intervention has proven efficacy, i.e., HIV infected index participants in the intervention group had increased ART use, MAT use, would initiate ART and MAT more often and within a shorter timeframe also indexes showed higher treatment adherence resulting in significant viral suppression. Unplanned additional study findings include lower mortality rates among intervention group HIV infected index participants and their injecting partners compared to the standard of care. 

The investigators presented the key HPTN 074 study results in the Lancet medical journal and concluded that these findings have important implications for decreasing HIV incidence and mortality among PWID worldwide.

Disseminating HPTN 074 study results: Meeting materials

William C Miller; Irving F Hoffman; Brett S Hanscom; Tran V Ha; Kostyantyn Dumchev; Zubairi Djoerban; Scott M Rose; Carl A Latkin; David S Metzger; Kathryn E Lancaster; Vivian F Go; Sergii Dvoriak; et al A scalable, integrated intervention to engage people who inject drugs in HIV care and medication-assisted treatment (HPTN 074): a randomised, controlled phase 3 feasibility and efficacy study. The Lancet. September 01, 2018 (EN)

Вільям С. Міллер, Ірвінг Ф. Гоффман, Бретт С. Ганском, Тран В. Га, Костянтин Думчев та ін. Розширювана інтегрована інтервенція із залучення осіб, які вживають ін’єкційні наркотики, до програм лікування ВІЛ та медикаментозного підтримуючого лікування наркозалежності (HPTN 074): рандомізоване контрольоване дослідження третьої фази щодо здійсненності та дієвості (Переклад з англ.) The Lancet. September 01, 2018 (UA)

Program of The HPTN 074 Results Dissemination Meeting Kyiv, Ukraine 18 October 2018 (UA/EN)

Вільям С. Міллер. Проект HPTN 074. Інтегровані підходи до лікування та профілактики серед ЛВІН: перші результати у рамках мережевого рандомізованого клінічного дослідження із профілактики ВІЛ, у яких подано порівняльний аналіз інтегрованих програм, у тому числі контрольованої антиретровірусної терапії, та програм стандартного надання медичної допомоги. Презентація (UA)