Children in Ukraine

There have been a number of achievements for children since Ukraine achieved independence and the country’s economy began to improve. The infant mortality rate has been cut in half since 1991. In 2001, the country adopted its first national programme on prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV.

Between 2000 and 2004 the transmission rate was reduced by two-thirds. Immunization coverage rates have consistently remained over 95 per cent for all six basic childhood vaccinations.

But the transition from a centrally planned economy to a free market has also resulted in an increase in unemployment and social inequality, factors that severely affect children - especially since the disintegration of the state social protection system. The gap between rich and poor is widening and the unemployment rate is high, especially in rural areas. The situation has become very difficult for single parent households and two-parent families with more than one child.

1. You are going to read an article about the children in Ukraine. Seven sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences (A-F) the one which fits the gap (1-6).

Major Challenges for Children in Ukraine

In an attempt to reverse this negative trend, the government increased social aid payments to families in 2005.

Despite these efforts, major challenges stand in the way of the healthy development of the children of Ukraine.

1.____ due to their parents’ lack of knowledge about early childhood care and development, an outdated health care system and unregulated advertising for breastmilk substitutes and other potentially harmful products. Only six per cent of all mothers breastfeed their babies exclusively during the first six months.  Every year 80 per cent of newborns are estimated to be unprotected against iodine deficiency disorders because of the lack of iodine in their mother’s diet during pregnancy and in their own diets in the early years of life. Only 21 per cent of children living in rural areas have access to pre-school education services.  As children grow into adolescents they face new challenges to their health in the form of drugs, alcohol, tobacco and unprotected sex.

2.____ The number of reported cases has increased 13 times in the past five years. 1.46 per cent of the adult population is infected with HIV. Eighty per cent of them are young people. While the sharing of needles by injecting drug users is the leading cause of transmission, HIV is now spreading fast among the broader young population in general through unprotected sex. As a consequence increasing numbers of children are born with HIV. The number of infected pregnant women has increased two-fold in the last five years.

Most at risk adolescents are at the core of the HIV epidemic in Ukraine. Little attention has been paid to date to ensure their access to health and counselling services. In 2004, 29 children living on the street in Odessa were tested for HIV; twenty of them were found to be infected.

3.____ Since 1987, some 12,000 have been born to HIV-positive mothers; an estimated 1,300 children have been infected with HIV from their mothers. As of April 2007 only 752 HIV-positive children are receiving antiretroviral therapy while some 4,600 children under 18 months of age are awaiting confirmation of their HIV status.

Most HIV-positive children are born into socially disadvantaged younger families and the communities are not ready to provide appropriate support for them. Insufficient knowledge about HIV/AIDS contributes to fear, discrimination and stigmatization. Ten per cent of children born to HIV-positive mothers are abandoned. 

4.____ Family poverty, unemployment, alcoholism and drug use are the main reasons for children being abandoned. Thousands of children also choose to run away from violence in their homes. They find refuge on the streets where they run the risk of contracting tuberculosis and HIV through injecting drugs. Many children leave home because they have been left to fend for themselves while their parents have migrated abroad to find work. Despite the government’s efforts to prevent child abandonment and create foster care within the community, the number of children in institutions has doubled in the past ten years.

5.____ – consequently there are no special juvenile courts, especially trained judges, prosecutors or lawyers to handle children in conflict with the law. Instead most law offenders are sent to prisons from where there is little opportunity to reintegrate into society. Little attention is paid to the underlying social factors that lead juveniles into conflict with the law in the first place.

6.____ While the precise scope of the problem is unknown, available data from the International Office of Migration indicates that a large number of victims of trafficking are young women and a smaller proportion are children from low income households who are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labour. Children who have been abandoned by their parents are especially at risk of falling prey to traffickers.

A. Ukraine is the country worst affected by HIV/AIDS in Europe

B. Ukraine is a source country for trafficking in human beings

C. Of Ukraine’s nine million children some 65,000 live in state-run children’s institutions such as orphanages, boarding schools and shelters

D. Many children get an unhealthy start in life

E. A prevention-oriented juvenile justice system is yet to be established

F. Care and treatment for children and families affected by HIV/AIDS is poor