OREANDA-NEWS. The Ministry of Health of Ukraine has announced a tender for a “biobehavioral study among men who have sex with men in 2021”. This is stated on the website of public procurement.

The winners of the tender will be paid 10 million hryvnia (about 27 million rubles).

The aim of the study is to find out how HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) spread among gay men. The money for the tender was allocated by the American project "The US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief" (PEPFAR).

The conclusions of the scientific work should be based on the analysis of data from 6900 Ukrainian research participants. Participants will be interviewed and blood tests taken. Based on the information received, Ukraine plans to develop an HIV prevention program.

Biobehavioral research on gay people has been conducted in the country since 2009. In 2019, a similar survey was conducted among transgender people for the first time.

On January 25, it was reported that Ukrainian gay men complained to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that gay marriage is not allowed in their country. In late 2014 and early 2015, the LGBT Human Rights Center Our World sent complaints from two gay couples about discrimination by the state due to the lack of a legal form in Ukraine for recognizing same-sex family partnership. Now one of the complaints has been communicated.