Anya is from a village that was contaminated by radiation from the Chornobyl
disaster. There has been a rise in ocular birth defects in the region attributed
to Chornobyl. Orphanage for children with eye impairments. Rivne
Ira, who is HIV-positive, receives free antiretroviral treatment
and medication for tuberculosis. She takes 22 pills a day, not including vitamins.
Odessa
Despite
recently stepped up efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, Ukraine has one of the fastest
growing HIV infection rates in the world. There are over 70,000 registered cases
of HIV/AIDS out of a population of 49 million; however, UNAIDS estimates that
the actual number of cases is between 360,000 and 590,000. In addition to HIV/AIDS,
tuberculosis (TB) currently affects 70 out of every 100,000 people in Ukraine.
