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Tuesday, 12 April 2022
Briefing notes
By Bhanu Bhatnagar, WHO Europe Spokesperson
UN Geneva bi-weekly press briefing, Palais des Nations, 15 April 2022
- Good morning from Lviv. WHO continues to bring supplies into Ukraine and distribute them across the country from our warehouse here.
- We have so far delivered 216 metric tonnes of emergency and medical supplies and equipment to Ukraine. Of that amount, 122 metric tonnes – just over half – have reached their intended destinations, mostly in the East and North of the country where the need is greatest.
- We are doing everything possible to re-open our operations and Country Office in Kyiv. It’s really important for us to be in the capital city so we can assess the health needs of populations in the surrounding areas, conduct our daily operations and interact with key government stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health. It’s also important to ensure we are delivering the right assistance to the right places at the right time, in close consultation with the Ministry of Health and our many partners.
- WHO is interested to expand our operational base in Dnipro, in East-central Ukraine to be closer to the people who are in greatest need of life- saving humanitarian assistance. Operating out of Dnipro, which is a strategic hub, still remains uncertain but this location will allow us to mobilize resources more quickly and reach some of the most vulnerable people with urgent supplies and we will try our best with the other UN agencies to work out of this region to respond to the greatest needs.
- Over the coming days WHO will provide 15 generators to hospitals across Ukraine that have limited or no power supply. The generators are destined for oblasts in the north, east and south. We have set aside two generators for hospitals in Mariupol, for delivery as soon as we can get in.
- We are importing 20 ambulances to Ukraine this week – two of which have already been delivered – and will hand them over to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health. They will decide where to send the ambulances.
- We are helping the Ministry of Health – through our Emergency Medical Teams – set up field hospitals where health infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed and are delivering a concept paper to provide guidance on how best to do this in a conflict setting. We are also working with national and international partners to establish mobile clinics that can provide basic primary healthcare services. We’re working to figure out where exactly these mobile clinics will operate.
- Roughly 300 health facilities are in conflict areas and 1,000 health facilities are in changed areas of control, which leaves the health system vulnerable to infrastructural damage and severe disruptions in critical services. This means there is limited or no access to medicines, health facilities, and health-care workers in some areas.
- WHO is supporting the transfer of patients requiring medical evacuation to the Polish border town of Korczowa where the Polish government has set up a health facility to treat up to 200 people, with the help of the European Commission. Our Emergency Medical Teams, in consultation with the Ministry of Health, are assessing who is eligible for evacuation – this can include children and adults with cancer, patients with conflict-related injuries, and other patients who are unable to be treated in Ukraine at this time. This is to reduce the pressure on the Ukrainian health system.
- As of yesterday, 11 April, WHO has verified 108 incidents of attacks on health care in Ukraine. This could be attacks on health facilities, personnel, transport, supplies, and warehouses.
- At least 73 people have died and 51 have been injured in the attacks. We continue to condemn in the strongest possible terms all attacks on healthcare, which not only deprive people of vital health services, but are also a violation of international humanitarian law.
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