On February 24, 2022, from 11:00 to 12:30 (EET), an online presentation of the results of a new pilot study to assess the prevalence of antibodies to COVID-19 in five cities of Ukraine: Vinnitsa, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Ternopil and Uzhgorod will take place.


Over the past 2 years, similar studies have also been carried out in Sweden, USA, Italy, India, Pakistan and South Africa, the overall results of which will also be presented for discussion.

Registration for participation: https://bit.ly/3Ho5U7E

Researchers in the presentations will answer the following questions:

– How much the COVID-19 epidemic affected Ukraine really?

– What is the chronology of the COVID-19 epidemic in Ukraine, judging by the population of blood donors? Does this picture match the official data?

– What age and gender groups are more likely to have antibodies to COVID-19?

– How often do people get infected with COVID-19 and don’t even know about it? What is the real proportion of asymptomatic carriers, and what is the proportion of those who need to be hospitalized for medical care?

– What percentage of individuals with a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis COVID-19 were found to have antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 at different times after illness?

The sample of the pilot study on the prevalence of antibodies to the pathogen SARS-CoV-2 included blood donors from five cities of Ukraine.

“Comparing the data of the blood test of donors according to the criterion of the dynamics of detection the new cases of COVID-19 in Ukraine, we saw that the results of official statistics on the dynamics have the same fluctuations in the same periods. Thus, by examining the blood of donors, it is possible to monitor not only the general epidemiological situation, but also to identify with great accuracy those indicators that cannot be tracked in any other way. For example, what is the real proportion of asymptomatic carriers in the country and we can already answer this question, at least for 5 regions”, – says Nadiya Yanhol, C19RM Coordinator of the #SoS_project 2.0 at the Alliance for Public Health.

Thus, according to the results of the study, the frequency of detection of COVID-19 in blood donors was 45.5%: from 25.8% in Uzhgorod to 61% in Zhytomyr. Almost half or every second of the blood donors who did not have symptoms of acute respiratory infections or COVID-19 had COVID-19 asymptomatically.

Speakers of the event: experts from the Alliance for Public Health, the Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases named after. L.V. Gromashevsky of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, as well as experts from the Blood Service Association of Ukraine, the Public Health Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the World Health Organization, etc.

Event language: English and Russian with simultaneous translation.

The current program and detailed information will be published on the Facebook event page: https://bit.ly/3ujtoqV.

According to Nadiya Yanhol, the study results are an effective source and tool for monitoring the COVID-19 epidemic in the country, in terms of the unique obtained data and optimal financial costs. “As an international charitable foundation, we aim in our work to provide maximum support for the sustainability of national healthcare systems in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Therefore, we monitor international experience, develop partnerships and, have more mobility than state institutions with the support of international donors. So we promptly conduct the latest research to test innovative approaches in the country with subsequent transfer of experience to partners from government agencies. For example, last year we developed Guide for Contingency Planning for Key Population HIV Services during COVID-19 and Other Emergencies, and after receiving the results of this operational research, we were unequivocally convinced that this is the most valuable resource for the government in addressing the managerial and scientific tasks, which have become even more relevant after a broad nationwide vaccination program and new strains of COVID-19.”

The event will be interesting for researchers and experts in the field of healthcare, the media, as well as representatives of civil society and government agencies involved in countering the COVID-19 epidemic, in order not only to demonstrate the results of the study, but also to offer authorities and society a completely new, effective financial cost points, a tool for monitoring the COVID-19 epidemic in Ukraine, and solving new managerial and scientific challenges that have become relevant after a broad nationwide vaccination program and new strains of COVID-19 in Ukraine.

The organisers of the event is the ICF Alliance for Public Health, the Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases named after. L.V. Gromashevsky of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, as well as experts from the Blood Service Association of Ukraine.

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The event was organized with the support of  the Regional project “Sustainability of services for key populations in the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia” (#SoS_project 2.0) with financial support from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria