You are here

Article Text

Article menu

Download PDFPDF

Oral Presentations
O09 – EPIDEMIOLOGY AND SURVEILLANCE TO INFORM PRACTICE AND POLICY
Tuesday, July 16, 2019 10:45 AM – 12:15 PM
O09.4 HIV and HCV among clients of female sex workers in dnipro, ukraine
Free
  1. Marissa Becker1,
  2. Olga Balakireva2,
  3. Nicole Herpai1,
  4. Sharmistha Mishra3,
  5. Eve Cheuk1,
  6. Daryna Pavlova4,
  7. Stella Leung1,
  8. Shajy Isac5,
  9. Evelyn Forget6,
  10. Robert Lorway1,
  11. Leigh Mcclarty1,
  12. Francois Cholette7,
  13. Paul Sandstrom8,
  14. James Blanchard1,
  15. Michael Pickles1
  1. 1University of Manitoba, Centre for Global Public Health, Department of Community Health Sciences, Winnipeg, Canada
  2. 2Institute for Economics and Forecasting, Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, Department for Monitoring-based Research of Social And Economic Transformations, Kyiv, Ukraine
  3. 3St. Michael’s Hospital, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Toronto, Canada
  4. 4NGO ‘Ukrainian Institute for Social Research after Oleksandr Yaremenko’, Monitoring and Evaluation of Social Projects, Kyiv, Ukraine
  5. 5India Health Action Trust, Delhi, India
  6. 6University of Manitoba, Community Health Sciences, Winnipeg, Canada
  7. 7National HIV and Retrovirology Laboratories, Winnipeg, Canada
  8. 8National HIV and Retrovirology Laboratory, JC Wilt Infectious Diseases Research Centre, Winnipeg, Canada

Abstract

Background Ukraine has the highest HIV and HCV rates in Europe. Initially driven by unsafe injection use, more recent studies have documented the ongoing transmission of HIV via unprotected sex work. This paper describes the profile of clients of female sex workers (FSWs) in eastern Ukraine and their HIV and HCV prevalence and risk factors.

Methods We conducted a cross-sectional bio-behavioural survey of clients of FSWs recruited from sex worker hotspots in Dnipro, Ukraine. Inclusion criteria was men aged 18 and older who purchased sex services from a FSW (N = 370). The prevalence of HIV and HCV among clients was determined by serology from dried blood spots. Descriptive statistics of socio-demographic and sexual behavior are presented with univariate analysis for association.

Results The median age of clients was 32 (IQR 27–38) and the median age at first purchase of sex was 22 (IQR 19–27). Thirty-three percent of respondents were living with a regular sex partner. The mean number of sex services purchased in the past 6 months was 4.85 (SD 3.50), from 4.11 (SD 2.95) different FSWs. A mean of 2.1 hotspots were visited in the past 12 months (SD 1.6). Fourteen (3.8%) respondents reported ever injecting drugs. Two hundred and eight (56.2%) clients had ever tested for HIV. HIV and HCV prevalence was 2.4% (9) and 6.5% (24) respectively, yet only 33% (3/9) of people living with HIV reported knowing their status. Binge drinking was associated with both HIV and HCV prevalence; 8.2% of widowed/divorced respondents tested positive for HIV (p=0.003).

Conclusion The HIV prevalence among clients is almost three times the general population in Ukraine. Further, the frequency of sex work visits and the high number of sex workers visited, suggests a diffuse network with potential for wide transmission of HIV and HCV.

Disclosure No significant relationships.

  • HIV
  • hepatitis C

https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2019-sti.155

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.