Official: AIDS may decrease Ukraine's population by 2.1 million in 2016

The Associated Press KYIV, Oct 27 - An already steep decrease in Ukraine's population could be hastened by AIDS, which could lead to an additional loss of up to 2.1 million people by 2016, a top demographic expert said on October 27. AIDS has spread rapidly in Ukraine because of drug use and prostitution, while the country lacks the resources for complex drug treatment. The rate of infection is expected to peak between 2007 and 2016, said the head of the demography department of Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences, Valentyna Steshenko.

Demographers have projected that Ukraine's population will drop from about 50 million in 2000 to 45 million by 2016 due to economic depression in the Soviet Union. Steshenko said that AIDS was expected to kill some 900,000-1.9 million more people over that time period, resulting in a drop in childbirths of 100,000-200,000. As of Oct. 1, health officials registered 34,511 people infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS. However, experts say the real numbers are considerably higher because many cases go unreported.

KPnews.com
22 Feb 2001

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