Fighting for life: a rally in Berlin

How do people with HIV live during the war? An official event dedicated to the World Remembrance Day of AIDS Victims took place near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin*. And this time the event took on new shades as the war that shook Ukraine on February 24, 2022, forced millions of our citizens to flee the country. People with serious diagnoses, such as HIV, also had to emigrate. They have to not only seek protection from Russian aggression abroad, including Berlin, but also find a way to keep up the necessary therapy to literally support their lives abroad.

That’s why, thanks to our long-standing friends, the Trans-Atlantic Medical Relief Foundation Inc. we raised $10,000 to support immigrants from Ukraine who are now forced to stay in Germany. 50 Ukrainian citizens have already received the necessary medication. For them, it is really a matter of life and death. We held this rally to draw attention to their stories, to tell more about the importance of timely therapy and to dispel the myths and the stigma around people living with HIV/AIDS. Not only refugees but also representatives of German and international organizations have joined the rally: HIV+ Refugee Association of Ukraine in Germany, BerLUN e-V., Berliner AIDS-Hilfe, Public Health Alliance, East Europe&Central Asia Union of PLWH.

As to numbers, in January 2022 alone, there were 987 new cases of HIV registered, 295 patients were diagnosed with AIDS, and 126 people died from the disease in Ukraine. AIDS has claimed more lives around the world than World War II did. Therefore, during the rally, we organized a Quilt memorial exhibition to commemorate people who died of AIDS. Everyone was able to write down the names of their relatives, friends and acquaintances so that the world could remember their invisible war.

«We need to both remember those who died, and also take care of those who are alive and need our support today”, — said Volodymyr Zhovtyak, one of the leaders of the Association and co-chair of ECUO. — That is why we, Ukrainians in Germany, unite as a community and keep helping each other».

The march of participants stretched from the Brandenburg Gate to the Russian Embassy in Berlin. It was here, near the official mission of the aggressor country, that we appealed to the Russian consulate to once again point out the plight of this war on our people: «Ukrainians with HIV were forced to leave their homeland and faced the problem of meeting their basic needs. Stop your political leaders because your children are responsible for the genocide of the Ukrainian people happening in the heart of Europe in the XXI century».

Follow the link to see the full speech

The rally was our statement that people, who are already constantly fighting for their lives, have also faced the war, which audaciously took away their opportunity to get the regular and necessary treatment. As Serhiy Filippovych, Director of SoS_project, Public Health Alliance ICF said during the march: «Germany is one of the three European countries where Ukrainian patients have migrated most often to seek refuge since February 24, according to our coordination service #HelpNow. That’s why we supported the #HelpNowHUB program, which is already working hard. In Ukraine, doctors and social workers are still having a herculean task working in inhumane conditions under fire in destroyed medical facilities, delivering medication by foot or by bicycle to seriously ill patients. And we can go on for hours about the work of volunteers.».

And if the war can be stopped, diagnoses such as HIV cannot. That is why NGO “Small Heart with Art” has been bringing up this issue for years. This is the reason we are doing everything possible to ensure that adults and children with this extremely serious diagnosis have a normal life. To ensure that they do not remain invisible or socially isolated. That is why we remember Alina, who lived in the HIV department of the NDSL “Okhmatdyt” for 10 years and became the inspiration of our School of Superheroes. A girl who could not count or read, but could share sweets and smiles. She learned from nurses and enjoyed every single day. Every life has its value, every life is unique, and neither war nor diagnosis should be a pretext for stigma or isolation.
_______________________________________

*Every third Sunday in May marks the World Remembrance Day of AIDS Victims. The World Health Organization laid the foundation of the Remembrance Day to draw attention to the stigma around people living with HIV/AIDS and to raise awareness around the importance of antiretroviral therapy (ART). The therapy reduces the risk of HIV transmission and the likelihood of opportunistic infections and AIDS-related diseases among people living with HIV. If the disease is detected in time at an early stage and regular therapy is applied, one can live a fairly normal life, have children and realize one’s dreams.