Conflict-Ridden Eastern Ukraine’s Health System In Crisis, WHO Warns

Agence France-Presse: WHO sounds alarm on Ukraine’s creaking health system
“Fierce fighting in Eastern Ukraine has wreaked havoc on the health system, with more than five million people affected, the United Nations said on Friday. The World Health Organization said access to primary, secondary, and emergency health services was ‘critically needed,’ adding that the health infrastructure was buckling under the humanitarian crisis…” (1/16).

Reuters: Health crisis worsens in eastern Ukraine, WHO warns
“… ‘We have special concerns for children, infants, and the lack of vaccines. Ukraine in the past month had no vaccines in the country, we are warning,’ Dr. Dorit Nitzan, WHO representative in Ukraine, told a news briefing in Geneva. There is a ‘huge risk of vaccine-preventable diseases,’ she said. ‘Measles and polio are first on the list’…” (Nebehay, 1/16).

VOA News: Health System Collapsing in Conflict-Ridden E. Ukraine
“…Ukraine’s health care system was broken prior to the outbreak of fighting between Russia-backed rebels in Eastern Ukraine and the government in Kyiv in March. But, now it is completely collapsing, especially in areas where fighting is taking place. … WHO representative to Ukraine, Dorit Nitzan, says hospitals often experience water and electricity cuts; households, hospitals, and institutions do not have much food available; and medicines are in short supply…” (Schlein, 1/16).

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