Football against narcotics
27 July 2007
NGOs have been drawing attention to Ukraine’s growing injecting drug use and a rise in HIV infections with a ‘Football against narcotics’ event. It formed part of a national event called ‘Understanding. Support. Assistance’, which marked the International Day against Drug Abuse on 26 June.
Fifteen football teams made up of NGO representatives and project clients took part in a series of selection tournaments in the regions to play in the final event. Most of the players had been diagnosed with HIV or were undergoing treatment for their drug use.
Dmytro Sherembey of the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, a player on the winning team, said, “Fighting the stereotypes that make HIV prevention difficult is one of the key issues that stakeholder organisations need to address.”
Organisers say that the event was a another step towards promoting a more tolerant attitude towards drug users and further decriminalisation, which in turn will help scale up harm reduction programmes and lower HIV infections through injecting drug use.
Alliance Ukraine and the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS supported the ICF “Federation Club House” with the national event.
