European Union and WHO join forces to improve medical evacuation operations in Ukraine

The European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO) will join forces to help Ukraine improve medical evacuation operations amid the full-scale Russia’s war, informed the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, as reported by Censor.NET.

The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine has had devastating consequences for the health care system. Keeping essential and resilient health services up and running in the country is a herculean task. Despite the heroic efforts of health care staff treating patients close to the frontline, those in need of specialised treatment have to be treated in more centrally located hospitals, or in some cases, outside of Ukraine itself, according to the joint press release.  

According to the Delegation, the Ukrainian Ministry of Health coordinates medical evacuation (medevac) operations, which involve hundreds of daily patient transfers inside the country and dozens of cross-border transfers each week. 

Thanks to the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, more than 2,350 Ukrainian patients have been transferred to hospitals in 21 European countries. 

The EU and WHO launched a project to help the Ukrainian Ministry of Health to further develop and formalize the procedures to ensure the safe return of patients who have finished acute treatment abroad and wish to continue rehabilitation in Ukraine.

The project is titled “Strengthening the Ukrainian Ministry of Health accountability framework for medical evacuation and repatriation systems and services” and funded by the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI).  

The project will provide technical and resource support to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, the Medevac Coordination Unit and the Emergency Medical Services, according to the press service of the EU Delegation. Special attention will be given to targeted expertise and specialist service support, which include burns care, multidisciplinary war trauma surgical care, and critical care patient transfers and rehabilitation inside Ukraine, which will strengthen the trauma care systems and pathways. 

“Medical evacuations are an essential part of the EU’s emergency support to Ukraine,” commented Mr Peter M. Wagner, Head of the Foreign Policy Instruments. “Russia’s full-scale invasion leaves military and civilians heavily wounded while also ruining health-care infrastructure. In coordination with the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, our new project will further help alleviate the pressure on Ukraine’s health-care system, helping evacuated patients to return and integrate into national rehabilitation schemes, while also supporting provision of the best possible care for patients.”

“Medevac remains an essential component of the humanitarian effort to meet the health needs of patients who cannot be treated inside Ukraine at this moment,” explained Dr Gerald Rockenschaub, WHO Regional Emergency Director for Europe.

censor.net