The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched a 15-month programme worth $5 million to strengthen Ukraine’s civilian healthcare system, according to the UNDP website.
The programme provides for strengthening the capacity of four medical institutions in Kyiv, Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions, with a focus on priority needs identified jointly with health authorities. It concerns two institutions in Kyiv region and one each in Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
The support will cover maternal and newborn healthcare, intensive care for children, surgical and trauma care, diagnostics and emergency stabilization of patients. Assistance will include the procurement of medical equipment, its installation and commissioning, user training, warranty servicing and support for safe and long-term operation.
“KSrelief is pleased to sign this important Joint Executive Programme with our valued partner – UNDP – to strengthen the provision of civilian healthcare services in Ukraine. By working together, we can save and improve people’s lives by providing urgent support for the recovery and development of the civilian healthcare system in several regions of the country,” said Adviser at the Royal Court and Supervisor General of KSrelief Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah.
The programme will be implemented in consultation with national and regional partners and beneficiary medical institutions, while the scope of equipment and related support will be determined in accordance with confirmed needs, including its installation, staff training, maintenance and long-term operation.
It is expected that up to 900,000 people will be able to benefit indirectly from the programme.
The agreement was signed during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly within the framework of the cooperation agreement between KSrelief and UNDP.
HEALTHCARE, HOSPITALS, HUMANITARIAN AID, KSRELIEF, MEDICAL AID, SAUDI ARABIA, UKRAINE, UNDP, UNITED NATIONS
The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the De Boomgaard Foundation are investing in the installation of 2,700 solar panels that will generate 1.6 million kWh of electricity annually for 23 Ukrainian hospitals in frontline regions.
According to a press release from the Dutch-Ukrainian charity LifeLine Ukraine, which is supporting the project on the Ukrainian side, the total cost of the project is €3.4 million.
The project is jointly supported by a consortium of partners from the Netherlands (Solarge) and Ukraine (Lifeline Ukraine and Energy Act Ukraine) and provides reliable and sustainable energy supplies to key healthcare facilities and, in the future, to educational institutions in the country.
Solar panels from Solarge have already been installed in two medical facilities in Mykolaiv, with plans to install them in 21 more hospitals.
In addition to solar panels, the hospitals will also receive batteries for storing electricity.
Stichting de Boomgaard intends to ask the EC to build 60 more hospitals along the front line after the completion of these 23 hospitals.
The Czech Republic will take part in six public investment projects to modernize Ukrainian medical institutions.
According to the Ministry of Health, the European Commission has now agreed on projects to modernize the Lviv Regional Hospital for War Veterans and the Repressed, Rivne Regional Hospital for War Veterans, Volyn Regional Clinical Hospital, Kryvyi Rih City Hospital #5, Dnipro City Clinical Hospital #16, and Kyiv Regional Children’s Hospital.
The Ministry of Health notes that the Czech Republic is a member of the Ukraine Facility program and is potentially ready to finance the reconstruction and modernization of 13 hospitals in seven regions of Ukraine.
So far, Russians have damaged 1984 medical facilities and destroyed another 301. According to the World Bank, the reconstruction needs in Ukraine’s healthcare sector over the next 10 years amount to $19.4 billion.
Since the start of the full-scale war, the Czech Foreign Ministry has allocated EUR 4.3 million for medical equipment and machinery for Ukrainian hospitals, ambulances, buses, and communications equipment for medical units.
In 2023, Zaporizhstal Iron and Steel Works donated 767 tons of medical oxygen to Ukrainian hospitals free of charge.
According to the company, Zaporizhstal produces medical oxygen at the VRU-60 air separation unit in the oxygen compressor shop: atmospheric air is purified, compressed and separated into components. Zaporizhstal’s oxygen has been certified by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine for use as a medical drug since 2021. Since the start of shipments, the plant has supplied nearly 6,500 tons of oxygen to more than 100 hospitals in 17 regions of Ukraine.
Due to the full-scale war in Ukraine, the volume and geography of oxygen supplies have significantly decreased, but have not stopped. On average, Zaporizhstal shipped 64 tons of medical oxygen per month in 2023 at the request of medical institutions. The total amount of medical oxygen supplied to hospitals during this period amounted to 767 tons. The largest consumers were Zaporizhzhia city hospitals, the clinical hospital of emergency and ambulance services, and the children’s hospital.
Medical oxygen is intended for oxygen therapy in conditions accompanied by oxygen deficiency: respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, surgical operations, etc. In particular, oxygen therapy is used to treat the acute respiratory disease COVID-19 caused by the SARSr-CoV coronavirus. During treatment, one ton of oxygen covers the needs of about one hundred patients.
“Zaporizhstal is one of the largest industrial enterprises in Ukraine, whose products are in great demand among consumers both in the domestic market and in many countries around the world.
“Zaporizhstal is in the process of integration into Metinvest Group, whose major shareholders are System Capital Management PrJSC (71.24%) and Smart Holding Group (23.76%).
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
The German and EU governments have financed the construction of six hospitals in Ukraine under the EU4ResilientRegions project, a Special Support Program for Ukraine co-financed by the European Union and the German government.
According to a press release from GIZ Ukraine, which is the general contractor for the projects funded by the German and EU governments, the clinics are located in Lviv, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, and Chernihiv regions.
The first clinic, located in Lviv, started operating in September. By the end of the year, GIZ Ukraine will open five more.
The clinics will be opened on the basis of modular structures, which reduced the project implementation time to eight months.
The hospitals are equipped with modern medical and laboratory equipment, including functional diagnostics (ECG, EEG, ultrasound, etc.), laboratory tests, general practitioner’s office, ENT, ophthalmologist, gynecologist, surgeon, manipulation and consultation rooms, and physiotherapy.
The hospitals are equipped with autonomous 70 kW solar stations designed to ensure the uninterrupted operation of all available medical equipment in the modules (excluding heating needs), as well as 160 kW diesel generators with fuel reserve.
The first of the six facilities to be put into operation in September 2023 was the modular diagnostic center at St. Luke’s Hospital of the First Territorial Medical Association of Lviv. A Philips Ingenia Ambition S magnetic resonance imaging scanner was purchased for the center. Some of the equipment was placed in a modular structure, and some was installed in the existing hospital premises.
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH supports the German government in achieving its goals in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development. Priority areas of cooperation between Germany and Ukraine include good governance, energy efficiency and climate, and sustainable economic development. Special attention is also paid to supporting Ukrainian communities that have hosted internally displaced persons.
The humanitarian agency ZDOROVI delivered 29 tons of humanitarian aid to hospitals in 49 Ukrainian cities and towns in August.
Natalia Tulinova, founder of ZDOROVI, told Interfax-Ukraine that the aid was provided, in part, thanks to the agency’s cooperation with international partners, including ICAP Ednannia, MedShare, Embrace, RAZOM for UKRAINE, NOVA Ukraine, Americares, USAID, PHILIPS, and other charitable foundations and organizations.
She also said that in September, representatives of the ZDOROVI agency team took part in two international conferences – the First Ladies and Gentlemen Summit and the Americares Ukraine Partner Summit – to discuss support for Ukrainian medical institutions and ensuring patients’ access to medical care in the occupied and frontline territories.
“We are building a charitable organization that meets the standards of work in the international community in every detail, so that our donors and partners can be confident in the transparency of the processes related to humanitarian aid to Ukraine,” Tulinova said.
She also emphasized that “a fundamental platform for our country’s full participation in the global healthcare system is being built.”
