Cross-sectional HIV and HCV cascades of care across the regions of Ukraine between 2019 and 2020: findings from the CARE cohort

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  • Olga Fursa
  • Joanne Reekie
  • Ihor Kuzin
  • Larysa Hetman
  • Alina Kryshchuk
  • Olena Starychenko
  • Nana Hrytsaiuk
  • Inna Khodus
  • Alla Nyzhnyk
  • Viktoriia Rakhuba
  • Maryna Kovalevska
  • Tetiana Maistat
  • Iryna Pryhoda
  • Marianna Ahieieva
  • Olena Varvarovska
  • Olena Valdenmaiier
  • Lundgren, Jens
  • Lars Peters
  • the CARE study group

Introduction: Eastern Europe is facing major HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) epidemics, with many people living with HIV (PLHIV) and HIV/HCV coinfection living in Ukraine. Despite the previous progress towards care quality improvement, the ongoing war in Ukraine is disrupting HIV and HCV care. Methods: We described an HIV cascade of care (CoC) in PLHIV from two clinical sites and an HCV CoC for anti-HCV-positive PLHIV from six sites in Ukraine, enrolled in the CARE cohort between 1 January 2019 and 1 June 2020. The cross-sectional HIV CoC and HCV CoC are described at study enrolment. Results: Of 1028 PLHIV, 1014 (98.6%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 97.7–99.3) were on antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 876 (86.4% of those on ART, 95% CI 84.1–88.4) were virologically suppressed. Of 894 participants on ART >6 months, 90.8% (95% CI 88.7–92.6) were virologically suppressed (HIV-RNA <200 copies/ml). Of 2040 anti-HCV-positive PLHIV, 417 (20.4%, 95% CI 18.7–22.3) were ever tested for HCV-RNA prior to enrolment, ranging from 4.9% to 54.4% across sites, and 13.5% were currently HCV-RNA positive. One hundred and eighteen persons (7.3% of ever chronically infected) had received HCV treatment, and 25 persons (1.6% of ever chronically infected) were cured, with variations across sites (0%–7.5%). The site diagnosing 54.4% of people with chronic HCV was the only one providing free RNA testing for all anti-HCV-positive persons, while the intra-country differences in treatment coverage were driven by the number of available direct-acting antiviral (DAA) courses. Conclusions: Over 98% of PLHIV in care in both CARE sites in Ukraine were receiving ART, and the target of 90% virally suppressed was achieved in persons >6 months on ART. Only one of six HIV/HCV study sites tested over 50% anti-HCV-positive PLHIV for HCV-RNA and treated over 25% of eligible persons. While free HCV-RNA testing and DAA treatment are paramount to achieving HCV elimination targets, they remained a challenge in Ukraine in 2019–2020. The extent of the HIV and HCV care disruption during the war will be further assessed in the CARE cohort and compared with the pre-war findings.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere26166
JournalJournal of the International AIDS Society
Volume26
Issue number9
Number of pages6
ISSN1758-2652
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Journal of the International AIDS Society published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International AIDS Society.

    Research areas

  • cascade of care, Eastern Europe, hepatitis C, HIV, HIV/HCV, Ukraine

ID: 396645852