 Hello everyone, my name is Peter Sharoschi, I'm the editor of the Drug Reporter website and today we have a guest with us, Anton Baschenko from the European AIDS Treatment Group who is now joining us from Brussels and we would like to talk to him about the situation of people who use drugs within Ukraine during this war and how this war affects the access of people who use drugs to different kinds of harm reduction services. So this is a really terrible war, what's happening, I mean everybody is shocked you know to see the news and I'm sure that for you as a Ukrainian and you have loved ones in Ukraine it's even more terrible, so can you talk about if those people you love are safe in Ukraine? Unfortunately we don't know clearly, so talking about my mom, she's in Kiev, she's right in the district where the first bombing took place, it was not even a bomb, it was like a pieces of a Russian airplane, so in this building which was kind of destroyed by these pieces of airplanes it's just 200, 300 meters from my building, so actually now it's more than two weeks that people are running between bomb shelters and their apartments, I mean those who couldn't or those who were not able to move from Kiev to live in Kiev, so my mom she's alone, it's really difficult, I mean she's quite sick, so it was not possible to evacuate her, there is no some friends with the car you know, so from another side Kiev is the most defended city as a capital, so I think maybe that the probability to be attacked or the risk to be attacked or bombed now is a little bit higher when you are on the way from Kiev somewhere rather than you are staying in Kiev at least last days, but we'll see every second the situation is changed, the worst situation is with my mother-in-law, she's outside of Kiev in the town named Borodyanka, only last days you can see it in the news, before it was not very public but now it's our last week, it is occupied by Russian army including Kadyrovtsi, you know this Chechen unit let's say and there is no electricity more than a week, no water supply, centralized water supply, no gas, no mobile connection, so it's almost a week we didn't hear, we really don't know whether my mother-in-law is still alive, so my wife is crying, my wife is here with me but she's crying because you feel like you are not able to do anything you know, of course we are using different communication contacts some neighbors, some groups of tenants in the town but that concrete part of the town so first of all it's almost fully destroyed and this concrete district is occupied by Russian so it's not possible for someone, it's dangerous for someone to go there just to check whether she is alive or what does she need, so that's a real problem, that's real. I'm really sorry to hear that and if we can give you any support just let us know, I mean if your family members are traveling through Hungary we can assist them, so let's also talk a bit about you know the community of people who use drugs and are you in contact with people from the community who are still in Ukraine and can you explain us, because you know be this with special needs on top of all this war you know like access to OST or access to opiate substitution treatment of different kinds of services so do you hear back from them like how are they and how this war affects this? For sure, so first of all I think it's it's important to remind that I'm a founding member and chair of the Board of Ukrainian Network of People who use drugs so of course I'm in all our communication channels and every second through our network of regional representatives in all regions of Ukraine I mean we officially we don't have only in Transcarpathian region but we still have the community activists there so actually we have information from all around Ukraine so every region every day we are checking whether we all I mean whether all our peers are alive I mean what are the needs and of course they are given the mark of course and they are given some information on OST harm reduction and other needs so if you observe this situation how the war is developing so first of all we should we should differ the needs of people who still stay in Ukraine I mean the people who use drugs and the number of issues with which they are facing with so it's access to treatment I mean some cities are surrendered you know the healthcare or some cities are already occupied and some OST sites for instance in Shersong region in Nichevskahovka, Novaya Kochovka, Militopol in Zaporozhye region it's already occupied by Russian so for instance in Militopol OST site was so all medications were stolen so thanks God it's not it's not turning to the way of behavior of Russians like it was in Crimea when they immediately immediately put their loyal people as the chief doctors or doctors into these healthcare facilities and immediately closed OST program so somewhere where even the city is surrendered or town is surrendered by Russians the healthcare facilities and OST sites still working so that's good but but the the more important thing is that the stocks of medications are really limited so talking about the origins of Ukraine it's so I mean the central stocks have the amount only to cover until the end of March and we don't know whether the new supply will be provided talking about certain cities or towns it's from one to weeks to like to one month maximum so we observe already reduction of dosage to 50% like in Kiev for instance so you have the same dosage but you are told like it's not for 10 days it's for 20 days so factually it's like 50% less of your dosage again some in some cities as I mentioned in Melitopol OST site is already closed so the most I think problematic is for clients of private clean so because initially I'm talking about the people on let's say state funded OST program but as you know there are thousands of people in private clinics whether it's an official OST medical center which is kind of relevant to state program or it's just a cabinet where you can be prescribed with the methadone of uprenorphine very fast by prescription and it's rather the detoxification than OST but nevertheless it's still methadone still buprenorphine and it's still people with the opioid dependence who need this kind of medication so they are in the most need now because people who are patients of state program at least they are covered by these toxins amounts of drugs which were procured by the state so all healthcare facilities who are a part of state program they are not accepting any new clients including all these guys from private clinics because they want to keep as much as possible medicines for those for actual patients of state program that's that's the issue number one talking about the and of course yeah the other side of the moon is that some number of Ukrainians including key populations already started to move outside of Ukraine or inside of Ukraine to Western regions and now Western regions and facing with the burden of crowds of people new like in new clients but as I mentioned they also in the risk of losing the proper amount of drugs for everyone who's coming you know so that's that's a real issue for all of them and those people who are living Ukraine and going outside to neighboring countries like Poland Hungary Romania Moldova Slovakia Czechia Germany even in Belgium people already here it's it's absolutely other bench of bunch of program problems with which people are facing so yeah talking about harm reduction either in syringe programs I just recently shared with you the first situation of report from Alliance for Public Health who are responsible for the implementation of harm reduction program so as you can see mostly NGOs are working I mean if if those people are alive I mean in this city is not like fully destroyed and fully blocked by Russians of course our NGOs are real heroes and they they really working until I mean until the when it's until the physical ability you know to to work of course the hours of work are shortened of course the approaches for service delivery provision is a little bit changed yeah we we have even some innovative stories and it's in story with COVID for instance when the big problem unexpectedly turns to a window of opportunities you know so Alliance like procured five mobile vans specifically armored mobile vans which which used to go to nepropetrovsk region for a mobile OST first ever in Ukraine I mean to two vans already there but additional five is supposed to be there as well but they stuck in Kiev and when you have such a good transport and such a committed people drivers and doing drivers from community because I mean Alliance recruiting people from communities as well and now these mobile vans doing their work before evacuation of families of clients of programs evacuation of staff may family members and relatives some delivery of some humanitarian aid including the help to army to territorial defense so it's really now universal you know universal use of these mobile vans just to save people's lives or to provide access to basic needs to some food you know yeah so that's how it is sorry if it's too much because yeah I think that's extremely interesting and I think it's it's like very inspiring to see that harm reduction workers whose first principles you know to save lives they do the same in the war so that they they try to save lives and they are I think very brave and we have to honor that and respect for all those harm reduction workers who are doing that in the front lines so is there anything like countries from the West can can support Ukrainian organizations or even the European Union or European institutions can support people and the community in Ukraine yeah for sure actually partially I was trying to address it on recent call with the DJ Sante where John Ryan as a deputy director been present and I had some oral speech there and briefly addressed some needs but I think that again there are needs in Ukraine and there are opportunities to support directly with some donation to all key populations network they already publicly they already published their kind of needs or the bank accounts for this donation I'm talking about all key populations not only people who use trucks because in Ukraine every key populations is represented by a national network and I already thank to want to thank to all regional networks relevant regional networks who already start to accumulate these kind of streamlines of support so for instance yoga Europe trying to help to alliance global or to cohorts transgender network in Ukraine for instance like I don't know where European sex workers rights alliance helps to try to try to support legal life Ukraine which is the national sex workers etc so that's what I already do but for you to understand that now is a problem so now it's easier to help with the funding so that then organization can provide at least small incentive small cash to the activists because it's a problem sometimes to buy something in the supermarket or to buy centrally on behalf of organization that is why donation in funding is really valuable now another story is humanitarian aid more centralized and of course there was some concern even from our government to the lack of intention from international Red Cross or MSF because talking about centralized logistics and guaranteeing supplies of life-saving medicines or food I don't know hygiene things we need the support of big because even in you know if you heard in even in the cities where Russians for instance like preliminary approved so-called humanitarian corridors once the evacuations began and once the first people start in their moon Russians are starting to shoot again so it's unbelievable it's inappropriate but that's how it is and here we need the organizations with a strong humanitarian mandate to provide these guaranteed supplies of all these things the video you are watching now is produced by the rights reporter foundation a non-profit organization which is not supported by any governments or political parties if you like this show please support our work on our website drugreporter.net make a donation today and become our supporting member it makes a difference thank you talking about European Union again we can say thanks to EU and the Commission for this recent decision for temporary defense status to Ukrainians with immediate residence permit work permit access to medical systems up to one year with possible extension to three years and we already observe how people starting to use this opportunity but in reality the number of people coming because I accidentally was in Brussels in the first working day after this decision and there was blocked the whole like district around this building because there was thousands of Ukrainian refugees and police specifically blocked because yeah it's so I think it should be organized in some optimal way and also don't forget about language barriers so there should be some proper coordination with the proper translation I guess because lack of Ukrainians know the English or French or local languages like Hungarian for instance and we understand that it could be a big issue even if person knows where to go in the EU authorities for instance but she or he cannot communicate properly and that's the problem so also political I think political need is also there you hear our president and I fully echo in him we need to close the sky over the Ukraine I mean or at least to have the airplanes military airplanes to fight against Russian in the sky because that's the sky is still is still the open area from where the bombs are coming and missiles are coming and they are killing our civil people it's not it's not war between just a you know army it's a long ago turned to a just a killing of civilians including children so it's more than 60 children already died and I think here the political commitment from EU and I mean to have this consensus from everyone on the political level that's really important as well as to speed up all the approvals on the country level because I understand and now I observe that after EU approval this specific like temporary defense for Ukrainians now every country started to kind of approve on the country level and they made in these procedures so for instance people who already need access to air V or to OST and I have these real cases including here in Brussels so the person is in the registration process because of the crowds of people and big queue of people near the registration center she is not able to to have registration already but at the same time she already has the need to have access to antiretroviral therapy immediately without interruption so so that's where I understand we don't live in ideal world but I mean as much as it's possible if you can speed up or provide the proper coordination so that can unload a little bit this crowd of crowds of people and you know they provide the proper access to medical systems for those who usually left behind I think that's that's really that's really necessary as well as as well as funding and not only funding as I mentioned to like donation private donation organization of the nation to keep population networks to support our activities it can be also additional funding for those EU local NGOs who are now dealing with all these numbers of Ukrainians I really I really appreciate and I really express my gratitude to I don't know organizations in Poland in Hungary because I know they're in Czech Republic I know how many people already there and they they I mean even the organization who historically deal and deal only with like access to treatment now they're dealing with all the scope of issues accommodation refugees registration so all these like so and I think they they they are their capacity is limited of course their funding is also limited so I think that's that's not only direct funding to Ukraine but it's a funding to support Ukraine but Ukrainians who are in EU now or who's coming to EU so that's so there are different sides of this you know possible help from from from Western Europe from European Union and certain countries but actually we have we have quite few people who stay in Hungary so according to statistics like 90 percent of the people just stay for a few days and then go to the best and the so do you think that most of the refugees and especially clients of OST programs and people use drugs they will end up in in in the West right in like Berlin or look there is interesting situation because according to the martial law which was approved immediately by our president in the first day of the russian attack at the moment all men from 18 to 60 they are prohibited to leave the country only if they are people with disabilities or only if they are the only parent for instance what for a child for a little child and they are kind of accompanying this child abroad so there are just a few cases of exclusion so mostly now you can see this demographic cut between those who stay in Ukraine it's mostly men of this age and women with the children who moving now moving now to another country of course a number of men is also there but principally conceptually it looks like this so that is why we still need some we still need support in provision or procurement and supply of OST medicines to Ukraine because because some number of people will still stay there and those stocks who are now available available in Ukraine it wouldn't be enough to cover their needs so in a month I think we will start to observe the interruption like a massive interruptions so that is why I heard already that the German parliament approved some law with the possibility to transport narcotics drugs out of Germany so maybe I hope they are planning this supply but again it's everything is still in the process but we need to to do to make it fast I mean to do really fast steps now because every minute it's somebody's life I mean it's not just a mantra or it's not just a beautiful word it's it's a fact so for for for those who are in in the cross the border of Ukraine mostly the most grounded now is Poland and I think of course some number of people will stay there at least because maybe the language barrier is there is the less problematic there because Ukrainian and Polish people they can understand each other somehow and that is why more already more than half a million already in Poland and Poland is a leader among all the countries now who accept Ukraine so the last figures I saw about Hungary was like 30 000 so maybe it's because every day is coming new a new number of people so maybe it's now 50 000 whatever but nevertheless it's half a million in Poland and some number will stay there but you are right some people using this neighboring bordering countries just for a temporary stay and then they are moving further but I think the next like the next countries the wave of of refugees will touch the Germany, Belgium, maybe Austria so those countries who are like a second line of I mean if we look into the map yeah but again for people like people who use drugs it's always a matter of how soon if you I mean if you make a decision to move somewhere you want to be insured that you will have immediate access to like everything you need I mean to substitution therapy or ARV or need to insure it yeah so that is where we still need some kind of coordination between partners from western european bar and eastern european I don't know maybe using these opportunities this interview to announce this initiative help now UAE which is now coordinated by Alliance for Public Health but there are included many partners including EETG, EHRA, CEHRN so it's many partners who who kind of first of all create the special database with the contacts of local NGOs OST sites, ARV centers and and and other necessary things but the main the the most important thing is that it's like a centralized coordination hub like using the telegram channels you can you can apply using the Google form or Facebook so yeah and there are already more than 150 I guess appeals so yeah I think we just need this coordination and again because mostly now it's women and children you can imagine the specific gender oriented needs and also specific needs for children yeah so you mentioned that there are many people who cannot even access food now and then just basic things like water and things if someone from Europe from west would like to support these people because you mentioned also like donations to these people how can simple people do that how can where where should they go to donate so I mean if you if you want to if we're talking about common Ukrainians there are a list of links it's officially published by our ministry of foreign affairs so it's a trusted links and really serious organizations which I mean you can be ensured that the money you give you sent there it will be used properly talking about key populations and especially people who use drugs I can share the link for donation to Ukrainian network of people who use drugs or Ukrainian network of women who use drugs but the situation but now we faced with another problem I think I mean it's mostly our problem rather than those who send in this money but because of the taxation system and the system of spending the foreign currency you receive from abroad it's really bureaucratic size and it's really more expensive if you accept money to organization account and then spreading this that rather than for instance director of Ukrainian network of people who use drugs Oleg Demoretsky for instance personally can accept some transfer using Western Union for instance and then he's spreading the this disseminating these funds to to to clients that's how we did with the input for instance so so yeah it's it's more technical issue but again not to lose those valuable support and funding on some you know taxes or in some bureaucratic procedures thank you very much thank you so much Anton for being with us and we will make sure that we share the links for this donation websites and yeah if you can give any support in the future just let us know glory to Ukraine thanks