This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Ukraine invasion: Needs keep growing with cities facing ‘fatal shortages’

After a missile attack near the airport in Lviv in western Ukraine early on Friday, UN humanitarians warned that the situation across the country remains dire, as Russia’s military invasion continues.

Now in its fourth week, the war in Ukraine has seen 44 attacks on healthcare throughout the country, including on buildings and a warehouse, patients, staff and supply chains, resulting in 12 confirmed deaths, according to WHO data.

Despite the dangers, the UN and its partners have continued to push for humanitarian access.

Underscoring the deadly danger to civilians unable to escape Russian bombardment, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) described the situation in cities such as Mariupol and Sumy as “extremely dire, with residents facing critical and potentially fatal shortages of food, water and medicine”.

In the country’s eastern regions, needs “are becoming even more urgent”, said UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh, where more than 200,000 people are now without access to water across several localities in the Donetsk region. 

More than 3.2 million people have now fled Ukraine, and millions more are internally displaced.

Gamechanger HIV injection rolls out in South Africa and Brazil

The first injection to offer long-lasting protection against HIV is being rolled out in South Africa and Brazil, as an alternative to daily medication.

UN agency UNITAID, announced the groundbreaking development on Friday, which it is hoped will boost HIV prevention worldwide.

Developed by ViiV Healthcare and approved by the US health authority, the injection offers two months of protection against HIV. 

Like other HIV treatments, the anti-retroviral medication works by stopping the virus from replicating in the body, effectively reducing the viral load.

Although existing oral medication – known as “oral pre-exposure prophylaxis”, or oral PrEP - can prevent HIV in 99 per cent of cases, uptake has been slow and targets to reduce new infections have been missed.

The reasons for this include that people with HIV fear stigma, discrimination or intimate partner violence if they take the pill every day, said UNITAID spokesperson Herve Verhoosel.

UNHCR and partners launch $1.2 billion appeal for South Sudan refugees

And finally, UNHCR together with 102 humanitarian and development partners is appealing for $1.2 billion to deliver much-needed aid and protection to 2.3 million South Sudanese refugees and their host communities, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda.  
 
After nearly a decade of conflict and despite efforts toward implementing the stalled peace agreement, South Sudan continues to grapple with sporadic violence, chronic food insecurity and the devastating impact of major flooding. The COVID-19 pandemic has also strained resources, the agency said on Friday.  
 
Funding is urgently needed to help these host countries to provide food, shelter, and access to essential services such as education and health care, added UNHCR.  
 
Governments in the five countries of asylum will be supported in their efforts to integrate South Sudanese refugees in national social service systems. 

Matt Wells/Daniel Johnson, UN News.