Doctors and volunteers try to support Ukraines health system

London, March 15, 2022:

When Russian shelling began to fall on Kyiv, Nataliia Verovkina, an oncologist, and her 10 -year -old son fled. But when he was safe in Munich with his grandparents, he turned and returned.

“Someone has to help these people,” Verovkina, 43, who works at Ukraine’s National Cancer Institute, said by phone from the capital. “It’s even harder that I don’t work.”

Verovkina brings together a growing army of medical professionals and volunteers, from Ukraine and abroad, who are working under critical conditions to take care of the country’s health system from the very beginning. of the fight in Feb. 24.

The situation has worsened in troubled cities such as Mariupol and Kharkiv, where days of intense fighting and lack of food and medicine have threatened millions of citizens, he said. and groups of people.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that its teams were working around the clock to get supplies to Ukraine. Since March 5, it has provided 90 tonnes of medical assistance, including emergency kits, ventilators and essential medical supplies.

But the WHO is unable to reach some cities where large numbers of people do not have access to medicines and are not being cared for and is lining up ships as soon as they can be provided, he said. Tarik Jarasevic from the western city of Lviv.

In Kyiv, the medical center where Verovkina works is still in operation, even though its operating rooms only provide medical care and staff are worried about the coming days. escalation of the war in the areas of the capital.

Valentina Ocheretenko, director of the Ukrainian Diabetes Foundation, said the situation is critical for Ukraine’s 2.3 million diabetic patients, 120,000 of whom have type 1 diabetes and require regular doses of insulin. with a view to survival.

Every night, he spends short hours with global partners trying to balance falling insulin supplies and glucose meters to monitor blood sugar levels with great demand.

‘TOO MUCH’

“I’m afraid for people with the disease, it’s a lot more,” Ocheretenko said by phone from Kyiv, adding that he was worried the county’s health system was “falling down”.

Her older daughter, who has type 1 diabetes, had to receive critical care in the past week after a traumatic event of hypoglycemia, or high blood sugar, after a fight. Looking for common foods.

He’s doing well now but hospitals are more demanding and some diabetics don’t always get the care they need, Ocheretenko said.

The WHO has reported that infectious diseases, along with COVID-19, another problem, have more than millions of people fleeing the conflict by moving in Ukraine and abroad.

Ukraine’s Alliance for Public Health assists patients with HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and hepatitis. His trucks deliver medicine and food, as well as evacuate people from crowded places like the city of Irpin.

The charity has set up a helpline to make sure people can get the medications they need. Inna Gavrylova of the Alliance came with the idea after traveling with her family to a refugee camp in the Ivano-Frankivsk region in western Ukraine.

“I can’t sleep at night,” she said, as she knew who needed constant care.

Oncologist Verovkina also said that helping others was the only way to deal with the trauma of war.

“A lot of doctors are volunteering to make the procedure easier. ET HealthWorld