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UN PhotoWHO / UKRAINE REGIONAL DIRECTOR VISIT
STORY: WHO / UKRAINE REGIONAL DIRECTOR VISIT
TRT: 06:38
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WHO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 10 SEPTEMBER 2024, POLTAVA, UKRAINE / 10 SEPTEMBER 2024, KHARKIV, UKRAINE / 11 SEPTEMBER 2024, KYIV, UKRAINE
10 SEPTEMBER 2024, POLTAVA, UKRAINE
1. Wide shot, WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge and delegation arrival at rehabilitation centre
2. Various shots, patients undergoing rehabilitation
3. Various shots, Dr Kluge and delegation’s visit
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, Regional Director for Europe, World Health Organization (WHO):
“I am here at the Rehabilitation Medical Centre at Poltava Clinical Oblast Hospital, where I saw with my own eyes how very dedicated doctors, nurses, and social workers are helping patients who suffer from strokes, from spinal cord injuries, and from polytrauma, again how to walk, how to run, how to get their life back like before. And WHO has been providing here a lot of assistive technology like wheelchairs, crutches, treadmills, but also looking at the social aspects and ultimately, together with the Ministry of Health providing a lot of training because up-to-date knowledge is very important. And I understand that this centre is very, very unique, and it is a pleasure and an honour for us and the healthcare workers to continue to work together.”
10 SEPTEMBER 2024, KHARKIV, UKRAINE
5. Various shots, Dr Kluge and delegation’s visiting Chuhuiv Central Hospital
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, Regional Director for Europe, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Right now, I'm at the Central Hospital in Chuhuiv City, in Kharkiv Oblast. It's a very tough situation; the hospital has been bombed several times. Ukraine is going to the third winter. We have a lot of attacks on the civil energy infrastructure, so recently WHO has donated this heating unit to keep the patients, the staff warm during what's going to be a tough winter.”
7. Various shots, Dr Kluge and delegation’s visiting Chuhuiv Central Hospital
11 SEPTEMBER 2024, KYIV, UKRAINE
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, Regional Director for Europe, World Health Organization (WHO):
“WHO has been supporting the Ministry of Health for the last 30 years, but of course, due to the tragic war, our support has really expanded, including with a lot of support to the Emergency and Disaster Medicine Team of the Ministry of Health. Donation of 23 highly specialized ambulances with inside intensive care units to transfer complicated patients from hospital to hospital, from one place to the other place and really save lives. But I would like to thank and give credit to all the healthcare workers of Ukraine, and also to USAID and Germany who provide the support for this very, very essential and life-saving ambulances.”
9. Various shots, ambulance donation
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Jarno Habicht, Representative in Ukraine, World Health Organization (WHO):
“The World Health Organization in Ukraine is supporting health system in various ways. We support in response. That means that health care workers have necessary supplies, trainings, but also the services, especially in the oblasts where people need health care as well the coordination among humanitarian partners that the services are available, and we have hundreds of partners providing those services to Ukrainians.”
“We work also on the recovery. That means that primary care centres are rebuilt, that different partners are investing more, and recovery also means that we are supporting people. That means the mental health services as well, physical rehabilitation.”
“And third, we work on reforms. And that means that the reforms that started before the COVID and the war are continuing. That means that public health is modernized. Ukraine is moving towards the European Union. The health system is modern and reaching to people.”
“In essence, we work on response, recovery and the reform at the same time. And these ambulances are just one example. These are ambulances, but WHO is also equipping those ambulances with knowledge. That means that we are training the emergency medical teams how to transfer the patients, how to provide care. And actually, there are lessons to learn to other countries from Ukraine experience.”
11. Wide shot, ambulances
As Ukraine is approaching its third winter amid full-scale war, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Director for Europe Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge wrapped up his sixth visit to the country since early 2022 and highlighted WHO’s support to the Emergency and Disaster Medicine Team of the Ministry of Health.
As of today, WHO has confirmed close to 2000 attacks on health in Ukraine, including on hospitals, health workers and patients.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, Regional Director for Europe, World Health Organization (WHO):
“I am here at the Rehabilitation Medical Centre at Poltava Clinical Oblast Hospital, where I saw with my own eyes how very dedicated doctors, nurses, and social workers are helping patients who suffer from strokes, from spinal cord injuries, and from polytrauma, again how to walk, how to run, how to get their life back like before. And WHO has been providing here a lot of assistive technology like wheelchairs, crutches, treadmills, but also looking at the social aspects and ultimately, together with the Ministry of Health providing a lot of training because up-to-date knowledge is very important. And I understand that this centre is very, very unique, and it is a pleasure and an honour for us and the healthcare workers to continue to work together.”
In just the past 6 months, targeted attacks have damaged Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Frequent summertime power outages are already taking a toll, with danger signs for the winter.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, Regional Director for Europe, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Right now, I'm at the Central Hospital in Chuhuiv City, in Kharkiv Oblast. It's a very tough situation; the hospital has been bombed several times. Ukraine is going to the third winter. We have a lot of attacks on the civil energy infrastructure, so recently WHO has donated this heating unit to keep the patients, the staff warm during what's going to be a tough winter.”
Water systems could be compromised as water distribution sites depend on uninterrupted power supplies. This could lead to increased waterborne and foodborne diseases. A lack of wintertime heating and ventilation systems could contribute to a rise in respiratory infections, from influenza to COVID-19.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, Regional Director for Europe, World Health Organization (WHO):
“WHO has been supporting the Ministry of Health for the last 30 years, but of course, due to the tragic war, our support has really expanded, including with a lot of support to the Emergency and Disaster Medicine Team of the Ministry of Health. Donation of 23 highly specialized ambulances with inside intensive care units to transfer complicated patients from hospital to hospital, from one place to the other place and really save lives. But I would like to thank and give credit to all the healthcare workers of Ukraine, and also to USAID and Germany who provide the support for this very, very essential and life-saving ambulances.”
In response to concerns over power supplies, WHO and health authorities are accelerating efforts to install generators and other crucial equipment at health facilities nationwide, including a heating unit at Chuhuiv Central Hospital in the Kharkiv region, a facility near the war’s frontline, severely damaged in 2022.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Jarno Habicht, Representative in Ukraine, World Health Organization (WHO):
“The World Health Organization in Ukraine is supporting health system in various ways. We support in response. That means that health care workers have necessary supplies, trainings, but also the services, especially in the oblasts where people need health care as well the coordination among humanitarian partners that the services are available, and we have hundreds of partners providing those services to Ukrainians.”
“We work also on the recovery. That means that primary care centres are rebuilt, that different partners are investing more, and recovery also means that we are supporting people. That means the mental health services as well, physical rehabilitation.”
“And third, we work on reforms. And that means that the reforms that started before the COVID and the war are continuing. That means that public health is modernized. Ukraine is moving towards the European Union. The health system is modern and reaching to people.”
“In essence, we work on response, recovery and the reform at the same time. And these ambulances are just one example. These are ambulances, but WHO is also equipping those ambulances with knowledge. That means that we are training the emergency medical teams how to transfer the patients, how to provide care. And actually, there are lessons to learn to other countries from Ukraine experience.”
Ahead of winter, primary health care is being prioritized to bring care to where people are living, including communities near the frontline. This week, WHO launched a prefabricated primary health-care clinic in Chohodarivka, a rural area of the Odesa region, to provide basic services to almost 2,000 people and to improve the medicine supply chain despite persistent challenges.
Health reforms feed into Ukraine’s stated goal of European Union accession. Under this, a range of indicators must improve, including those linked to tobacco control and efforts to tackle AMR; these are just 2 priority areas in which the Ministry of Health is pushing ahead.
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