Researchers of the Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy and our partners from Yale University presented the results of two projects related to the implementation of OAT programs in Ukraine.
On July 24, the UIPHP senior researcher Tetiana Kiriazova made a presentation at the AIDS 2024 session devoted to stigma and discrimination as barriers to accessing health care services, including HIV treatment and prevention.
In 2021, the UIPHP conducted a study to identify key barriers to accessing opioid agonist treatment (OAT) for people who inject opioids (PWIO) in Ukraine.
Patients' fears about stigma were included in the list of identified multiple barriers, but were not the main reason for refusing OAT. The main barriers were related to the misconceptions about OAT: myths about its ineffectiveness and even harmfulness.
According to the researchers' conclusions, combating myths and stigmatization of people with addiction can be ensured by further intensive implementation of integrated services at OAT sites, regular training of the staff of OAT sites, NGOs and health care facilities, as well as providing PWIO with reliable information about OAT with the help of NGOs and harm reduction programme specialists.
On the same day, our colleagues and partners in the implementation of the project "Integrating addiction treatment and HIV services into primary care clinics in Ukraine" from Yale University (USA) presented some of its results at the session "A tale of two diseases: Novel strategies towards elimination of tuberculosis and viral hepatitis".
A study of the effectiveness of the treatment of opioid addiction and its co-morbidities at the primary care clinics showed that PWIO received better healthcare services (including diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis and viral hepatitis) when receiving OAT from the primary care providers supported by regular tele-education training compared to the treatment-as-usual care provided in specialized addiction centers.
