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Elton John launches anti-AIDS project in Ukraine

Singer Elton John has unveiled a charity project to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ukraine, believed to be the worst in Europe.
/ Source: The Associated Press

Singer Elton John has unveiled a charity project to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ukraine, believed to be the worst in Europe.

The program — co-founded by the Elton John AIDS Foundation and a local anti-AIDS group — will allow homeless women who are at high risk of contracting HIV to be tested for the virus which causes AIDS.

Up to 100,000 young women are believed to be living on the streets of Ukrainian cities, according to organizers.

John said Wednesday that the homeless women will also get medical, psychological and legal help to "bring them back to life."

Ukraine has Europe's worst AIDS epidemic with 1.3 percent of Ukrainians above 15 infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, according to the United Nations.