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WHO / UKRAINE
STORY: WHO / UKRAINE
TRT: 5:56
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 09 MARCH 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
FILE – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Close up, WHO emblem on entrance to headquarters
09 MARCH 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, press room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“So far, WHO has delivered 81 metric tons of supplies, and WHO is establishing a pipeline of supplies for health facilities throughout Ukraine, especially in the most affected areas. Yesterday, we delivered five metric tons of medical supplies to Kyiv to support surgical care for 150 trauma patients, and other supplies to manage a range of health conditions for 45,000 people for a month. More supplies will be distributed today, and we have 400 cubic metres of supplies waiting to be transported to Ukraine from our logistics hub in Dubai.”
4. Wide shot, press room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“So far, WHO has verified 18 attacks on health facilities, health workers and ambulances, including 10 deaths and 16 injuries. These attacks deprive whole communities of healthcare. More than two million people have left Ukraine, and WHO is supporting neighbouring countries to provide health care for refugees, most of whom are women and children. Some of the main health challenges we see are hypothermia and frostbite, respiratory diseases, lack of treatment for cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and mental health issues. WHO personnel have been deployed to neighbouring countries to provide mental health and psychosocial support.”
6. Wide shot, press room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“WHO continues to call on the Russian Federation to commit to a peaceful resolution to this crisis, and to allow safe, unimpeded access to humanitarian assistance for those in need. A peaceful resolution is possible.”
8. Wide shot, press room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
“We are part of a Radiation and Medicine Emergency Response Network, which is led by IAEA under the leadership of Dr. Zhanat Carr here at WHO. Clearly, we have raised the issue of chemical and bio- nuclear safety right since the beginning of this pandemic. We've worked to ensure that high threat pathogens all over Ukraine were autoclaved and destroyed. We have worked on ensuring and monitoring for any attacks or any damage to chemical installations, as well as nuclear installations.”
10. Wide shot, press room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
“There are approximately 1,000 health facilities of different size, not all hospitals, but clinics, polyclinics and various types of healthcare delivery and entities, either on frontlines or within ten kilometers of frontlines. So, in effect, the health system is becoming engulfed in this conflict, engulfed in this crisis. We have seen now that some hospitals are being abandoned by the authorities because they simply cannot function. And there's an attempt to move hospital equipment, to move doctors and nurses around.”
12. Wide shot, press room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
“So, it's very hard to know where frontlines are. It's very hard to do de-confliction. It's very hard to do the kind of humanitarian operations that are needed to provide the kind of significant support. Sending supplies to hospitals is great. But those hospitals need power, they need clean water. They need engineers to be able to help. They need fuel for the fuel supply for generators. All of this infrastructure and engineering support is needed to keep your average hospital going in a normal situation in the middle of a shooting war, it's almost impossible. So, it is the situation itself, as the Director-General has said, it is the violence, and it is the conflict that is driving this health crisis and this health crisis will not stop. It will only get worse. Unless we have ceasefire, unless we have peace.”
14. Wide shot, press room
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Adelheid Marschang, Senior Emergencies Officer, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
“We have to say, remarkably, Ukraine has maintained its COVID-19 surveillance and response system, and we have noted in the last week 731 COVID-19 deaths. The number of cases seem to decrease, but, as Dr Ryan has pointed out, due to population movements and disruptions, we will have to look very, very carefully at that and will monitor any increased risk in relation to that.”
16. Wide shot, press room
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Adelheid Marschang, Senior Emergencies Officer, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
“The most vulnerable people are those that cannot move. They cannot go outside because they have a chronic disease. Older people often with mental disease, for a prolonged amount of time that cannot access medicine and their regular treatment. Otherwise, we have also identified an escalated risk of gender-based violence as women, children, and the elderly travel and stay at reception centres, or apartments, or remain alone. And of course, issues around mental health, we see many children and women on the move, and therefore childhood illnesses are also very important to keep in mind.”
18. Wide shot, press room
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said his Organization has verified “18 attacks on health facilities, health workers and ambulances, including 10 deaths and 16 injuries” in Ukraine and stressed that these attacks “deprive whole communities of healthcare.”
At a press conference in Geneva today (09 Mar), Dr Tedros said WHO has delivered 81 metric tons of supplies to address the health crisis adding that the Organization is establishing a “pipeline of supplies for health facilities throughout Ukraine, especially in the most affected areas.” He said WHO delivered five metric tons of medical supplies to Kyiv on Tuesday to support surgical care for 150 trauma patients, and other supplies to manage a range of health conditions for 45,000 people for a month. He added, “More supplies will be distributed today, and we have 400 cubic metres of supplies waiting to be transported to Ukraine from our logistics hub in Dubai.”
Dr Tedros said more than two million people have left Ukraine, and WHO is supporting neighbouring countries to provide healthcare for refugees, “most of whom are women and children.” He said, “Some of the main health challenges we see are hypothermia and frostbite, respiratory diseases, lack of treatment for cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and mental health issues. WHO personnel have been deployed to neighbouring countries to provide mental health and psychosocial support.”
Dr Tedros called on Russia to “commit to a peaceful resolution to this crisis, and to allow safe, unimpeded access to humanitarian assistance for those in need,” and underscored that a peaceful resolution “is possible.”
Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said the Organization has raised the issue of “chemical and bio- nuclear safety right since the beginning of this pandemic. We've worked to ensure that high threat pathogens all over Ukraine were autoclaved and destroyed. We have worked on ensuring and monitoring for any attacks or any damage to chemical installations, as well as nuclear installations.”
Dr Ryan said there are approximately 1,000 health facilities of different size “either on frontlines or within ten kilometers of frontlines.” He stressed that the Ukrainian health system is “becoming engulfed in this conflict, engulfed in this crisis. We have seen now that some hospitals are being abandoned by the authorities because they simply cannot function. And there's an attempt to move hospital equipment, to move doctors and nurses around.”
The Executive Director noted the complexity of identifying the frontlines. He added, “It's very hard to do de-confliction. It's very hard to do the kind of humanitarian operations that are needed to provide the kind of significant support. Sending supplies to hospitals is great. But those hospitals need power, they need clean water. They need engineers to be able to help. They need fuel for the fuel supply for generators. All of this infrastructure and engineering support is needed to keep your average hospital going in a normal situation in the middle of a shooting war, it's almost impossible. So, it is the situation itself, as the Director-General has said, it is the violence, and it is the conflict that is driving this health crisis and this health crisis will not stop. It will only get worse. Unless we have ceasefire, unless we have peace.”
Dr Adelheid Marschang, Senior Emergencies Officer at WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said Ukraine has “remarkably” maintained its COVID-19 surveillance and response system. She said WHO had noted 731 COVID-19 deaths in the last week, adding that the number of cases seem to decrease, but “due to population movements and disruptions, we will have to look very, very carefully at that and will monitor any increased risk in relation to that.”
Dr Marschang said the most vulnerable people in Ukraine are “those that cannot move.” She said, “They cannot go outside because they have a chronic disease. Older people often with mental disease, for a prolonged amount of time that cannot access medicine and their regular treatment. Otherwise, we have also identified an escalated risk of gender-based violence as women, children, and the elderly travel and stay at reception centres, or apartments, or remain alone. And of course, issues around mental health, we see many children and women on the move, and therefore childhood illnesses are also very important to keep in mind.”
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