Odessa used to be the busiest freight port in the Soviet Union, with great quantities of both legal and illegal goods passing through it on a daily basis. This made it popular among drug traffickers from all over the world, and the first cases of HIV infections came from drug users in the early 1980’s. While initially 99% of infections were drug related, nowadays more than 70% of cases are passed on through sexual transmission.
Today Odessa is a modern, decadent town in southern Ukraine, with a thriving nightlife and mafia stronghold reputation. It’s full of casinos, hedonist night clubs and notorious international marriage agencies. Official statistics claim 1% of Ukraine’s population is affected, but WHO and UNAIDS sources estimate between an 8-10% bracket for the number of HIV positive citizens. Being the worst-hit area in the Ukraine, Odessa is the epicenter of a country-wide epidemic. It is plagued by a lack of resources, medical incompetence, poor management of support structures, social exclusion of people with HIV and enormous problems with corruption at all levels. This multi-layered and complex situation brings HIV/AIDS right to Europe’s doorstep.