Geneva [Switzerland]: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday (local time) said that at least 12 people have been killed and 34 people have been injured in at least 43 attacks on health care facilities in Ukraine amid intensified attacks by Russia.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in his remarks to the UN Security Council said, “Attacks on health care are a violation of international humanitarian law – anytime, anywhere. They deprive people of urgently-needed care and break already strained health systems. That is what we are seeing in Ukraine.”
Mental health services are also being greatly affected by the conflict, with more than 35,000 mental health patients in Ukrainian psychiatric hospitals and long-term care facilities, “which are facing severe shortages of medicines, food, heating, blankets and more.”
Tedros said the war in Ukraine is also exacerbating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country due to decline in testing rates and only 40 per cent Ukrainian population being vaccinated.
“Declining rates of testing since the start of the conflict mean there is likely to be significant undetected transmission. And with less than 40 per cent of the adult population fully vaccinated, this increases the risk of large numbers of people developing severe disease,” Tedros said.
WHO has sent about 100 metric tons of medical supplies to the region, including “oxygen, insulin, surgical supplies, anesthetics, and blood transfusion kits – enough for 4,500 trauma patients and 450,000 primary health care patients, for one month. Other equipment, including oxygen generators, electrical generators and defibrillators have also been delivered, and we are preparing to send a further 108 metric tons,” Tedros said.
Although WHO has more critical supplies ready for UN convoys attempting to enter regions in Ukraine, they have not been successful, the Director-General said.
“For example, the UN convoy to Sumy that included a WHO truck carrying critical medical supplies was unable to enter. Loads ready for Mariupol remain in staging areas and cannot proceed. Access to these, and other areas, is now critical,” Tedros said.
Tedros ended his remarks by stating that while Ukraine is “rightly the focus of the world’s attention,” he urged the council “not to lose sight of the many other crises in which people are suffering,” including millions of people still suffering in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Syria, and Yemen.
