Collaborative learning and response to opioid misuse and HIV prevention in Ukraine during war

An estimated 346 000 people who inject drugs reside in Ukraine, 65 795 (19%) of whom are infected with HIV,1 making Ukraine's intertwined opioid and HIV epidemics among the worst globally. Scale-up of maintenance with opioid agonist therapy (OAT), such as methadone and buprenorphine, is the most effective strategy for controlling Ukraine's HIV epidemic.2 By Feb 24, 2022, Ukraine had 17 232 people on OAT, with targets set for 25 886 people being enrolled by the end of the year. Several activities in Ukraine since the first invasion by Russia in 2014 helped prepare Ukraine, a country with an inflexible health-care system, to respond to changing HIV prevention needs, including the introduction of the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx) in 2014.