DISINFO: Ukrainian refugees provoked a record outbreak of HIV in Poland
SUMMARY
After the influx of Ukrainians to Poland, a record incidence of new HIV was registered in the country.
RESPONSE
A pro-Kremlin disinformation about Ukrainian refugees, deployed in the context of Russia's unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Part of a wider set of Kremlin narratives to undermine Western popular support to Ukraine.
The claim about the increase in HIV infection in Poland, caused by the influx of Ukrainian refugees, represents a manipulation of the original article by a polish outlet Wirtualna Polska. Nowhere in the article is it mentioned that Ukrainian refugees are causing the record outbreak of the infection.
The article, indeed, states that statistics of HIV infection in Poland increased in 2022, however, it also mentions, citing the professor of the University Clinic in Białystok, Joanna Zajkowska, that during the peaks of coronavirus pandemic, diagnosis of the infection was limited, therefore, the referrals increased in 2022. In addition, Ukrainian refugees who continue to receive treatment in Poland were recorded in the current year’s statistics.
Read the full debunk at Myth Detector.