There are 141277 HIV-infected and about 26000 people who have AIDS (i.e. people already have clinical implications) in Ukraine. 
A press-conference took place on the May, 12 as a part of Presidential program for combating HIV/AIDS in Ukraine. Gennady Gvozdetsky, Yuri Kanzur, and Vasiliy Ryabokonenko, the pastors of charismatic churches took part in it. 
Almost every neoreligious organization has its own rehabilitation center, where it tries to help infected or sick people. Pastors appeal people to show more tolerance towards HIV-infected people, which, they claim, our society lacks. 
“Gorozhanin” interviewed not pastors, but specialists in this branch, in order to find out the real perspectives for combating this disease and about alternative approaches towards AIDS.
 From the professor’s point of view Anatoly Dmitrievich Didyun, MD, professor, the head of venereal diseases of Dnepropetrovsk State Medical Academy: 
- Why do religious organizations attract people? Everyone knows that AIDS causes hopelessness and sick people often lose hope or prospects. That’s why they go to some healers or sorcerers or start worshipping some religion. Their positive side is that they treat people very amiably, while in our society such a person often becomes an outcast. But I can bet they won’t cure AIDS; that is for sure. 
- But these organizations often tell about the numerous cases of “miraculous healings” …
- Most believers, who have been healed, are not really ill; maybe they just have some deviations. Such people imitate illnesses; they might even wish to be surgically operated just to make other people draw their attention at them. And the rite of “miraculous healing” may be really helpful for these people. During the service they are hypnotized with help of music, preacher’s voice and other effects and then they are persuaded that everything is all right. But one can never cure AIDS or infectious diseases with some organic pathology with these methods. They are helpful only when dealing with some deviations. 
Besides, there are 82 diseases, which are often associated with AIDS and often show pseudo-positive reaction during the first tests, for instance, if the person has lupus. Besides, drug addicts are one of high-risk groups, but drugs and alcohol suppress immune system themselves. Besides, drug addicts often already have a number of infectious hepatitis, and other diseases when they apply for help. First, they are considered to be HIV-positive, but after a number of more detailed tests they turn out to be HIV-negative. These cases might also give ground for “healing”. 
- What is the state of combating AIDS in Ukraine?
- There are 141277 HIV-infected and about 26000 people who have AIDS (i.e. people, already have clinical presentations) in Ukraine. HIV is an erythrocyte virus, which affects red blood cells. It is still impossible to have full recovery, but the earlier disease is diagnosed and the earlier antierythrocytovirus therapy is started, the more time will pass till the HIV-infected person’s state gets worse. In other words, it can help to have several years delay before the virus affects the person’s body. 
- During press-conference the participants expressed the opinion that if person receives antierythrocytovirus therapy, it is impossible for his sexual partner to catch AIDS when having sex with him. That’s why non-conventional churches bless the marriages between AIDS sick people and healthy ones. Is it really safe? 
- Antierythrocytovirus therapy really suppresses the virus. But no one will give you a hundred percent guaranties, so it is not right to tell things like this. 
These organizations often use moments, when medicine cannot give any clear answer to some question. Where we can do this, they are useless. For instance, if the surgeon amputates the finger and says that the new one won’t grow, everyone understands that regardless to how hard the person prays God, new finger will never grow.
- What’s your attitude towards the theory of so called HIV-dissidents, doctors and scientists, who claim that there is no AIDS virus?
 - There is a theory that claims there is a deal between the doctors and the large pharmaceutical companies in order to gain more profit. The point of the problem is that medicine still is vey expensive, the treatment for one patient costs about one thousand dollars per month. Besides, this theory’s advocates claim that neither Montagne & Galo, who discovered AIDS, nor the scientists, who researched it later, could find the causative agent, the AIDS virus itself. But if organism produces antibodies against this virus, it means that there is something that makes organism reacts this way. We use properties of antibodies, and the genome, they produce as a ground to find out what the causative agent is like. 13000 people died of AIDS in Ukraine and there are millions of them in the world. There was something that made them die, wasn’t it?  

Non-conventional opinion 
Vladimir Isotovich Didenko, MD, head of the regional department of “Private Medicine Association” is one of doctors, whose opinion on AIDS treatment differs a lot from the official one. You will find the full version of the interview with him in our next issue. 
- There are researches of mortality rates among the AIDS patients, which were carried out in Germany in 1987-2000. During this time 70% of people, who received antierythrocytovirus therapy died, while in the group of those, who refused of this treatment only 8% died...  
…To be continued…

Gregory Globa                                                                                                                                (o 13)