On July 21 - 25, 2018, a delegation of Ukraine headed by Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Chair of the National Council on TB and HIV/AIDS Pavlo Rozenko took part in the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018): “Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges” which was held in Amsterdam (the Netherlands).

The delegation of Ukraine also included Acting Minister of Health of Ukraine Ulana Suprun, Director General of the Center of the Public Health Center at the Ministry of Health of Ukraine Volodymyr Kurpita, Deputy Head of Kyiv City State Administration Mykola Povoroznyk and representatives of public, partner and professional organizations.

The Ambassador of Ukraine to the Netherlands, Vsevolod Chentsov also took part in the Conference .

The representatives of the Ukrainian delegation gave speeches at the Ministerial policy dialogue on HIV and related comorbidities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which was organized at the initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), as well as at the panel discussions and thematic Conference events.

In their speeches the delegation of Ukraine has briefed on the measures taken at the national level to prevent the spread of HIV / AIDS. Special attention was paid to the complexity of providing qualified assistance to patients with this disease in areas temporarily controlled by pro-Russian militants. "After the beginning of the military invasion in Ukraine, the inhabitants of the occupied Crimea and temporarily uncontrolled territories in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts were without access to proper medical care. All of these people needed continuous therapy with antiretroviral therapy. How many people died since then because they did not have access to drugs? We still do not have reliable data", said Ulana Suprun.

Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Rozenko informed about the achieved results and significant progress in combating the spread of the HIV / AIDS epidemic in Ukraine, in particular the significant increase in the level of coverage of antiretroviral therapy, the introduction of comprehensive prevention programs for key populations and the implementation of the largest and the most powerful substitution maintenance therapy programs in the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Also, in 2018, the Government has decided to increase the national funding of the HIV treatment program by 140%, and in addition the one for tuberculosis by 140%.

Meetings with the Minister of Health of Canada Ginette Petitpas Taylor and Director of Social Development Department and Ambassador for Sexual & Reproductive Health and Rights and 1-11V/AIDS of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Lambert Grijns also met on the margins of the Conference.

During the Conference the Delegation met with Mr. Pieter Jan Wolthers, Member of the Management Board and Mr.Eric Bloemkolk, the Director of the «Soft Tulip». Within the framework of the meeting, the sides discussed further interaction with the Foundation operating under the Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of the national early intervention platform (dated April 13, 2018). According to the Memorandum, one of the activities of Soft Tulip is to develop early intervention systems and policies to support families and prevent institutionalization. During the meeting, it was agreed that the Soft Tulip Foundation will join the discussion on the draft Concept of implementation of early intervention in Ukraine and discuss the Concept with other partners at the Annual Conference «Early Intervention: Changing the Paradigm with the Engagement of Families, Professionals and Society» of the The European Association on Early Childhood Intervention (Eurlyaid) (October 10, this year).

The participation of the Ukrainian delegation in the International Conference allowed to attract the attention of the world community to the urgent needs of Ukraine in the area of prevention of the HIV / AIDS epidemic and the importance of coordinating international efforts to assist patients in areas not under the control of the Ukrainian government.

The conference will last until July 27, 2007. Among the number of participants in the event, which already has about 15,000 delegates from around the world, about 200 representatives of Ukrainian nongovernmental organizations also take part in the event.