The Grim Toll of War on Ukraine’s Health System

April 30, 2022

Russia’s invasion of Crimea has disrupted Ukraine’s health and created a humanitarian crisis, with the number of refugees rising rapidly.

After this day, the entire world will never forget February 24, 2022. The day when all hopes and dreams for the people of Ukraine were dashed, bringing with them all kinds of pain and hatred for these defenceless Ukrainians. This was the day Russia finally invaded Ukrainian territory and began something so heinous that it will haunt everyone for the rest of their lives. Russia’s never-ending violence against Ukraine has affected every sector and individual in the country. Yes, it purchased a humanitarian crisis, impacted the healthcare sector, and shattered it to pieces. This article will explain how the war has caused a healthcare crisis in Ukraine and how the Ukrainian people are suffering as a result of it and how are they being helped and who is helping them? Let’s dive into the specifics of all this!

History of the war:

Before delving into the healthcare crisis, it is critical to understand the nature of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as how long it has been ongoing.

As a result, the 1991 democratic referendum, in which the Ukrainian people overwhelmingly voted for independence, marked a watershed moment in Soviet history. When the Soviet Union lost its ability to function as a superpower in 1991, NATO began to strengthen ties with former Eastern bloc members. By 1999, NATO had admitted all former Warsaw Pact and Baltic states to the alliance. Despite this development, Russia remained unconvinced that NATO was meeting its security needs. Despite this development, Russia remained unconvinced that NATO was meeting its security needs. As a result, President Vladimir Putin regarded the discovery that Ukraine had signed an Association Agreement with the European Union as a red line. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated unequivocally that Ukraine is a cultural, linguistic, and political part of Russia. Some Russian speakers in Ukraine’s east agree with him, while Ukrainian speakers in western Ukraine support European integration. In 2014, mass protests forced the resignation of a pro-Russian president who refused to sign an EU association agreement. Russia retaliated by annexing the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and fomenting a separatist rebellion in Ukraine’s east, resulting in a nearly three-year conflict marked by sporadic ceasefires and thousands of deaths. Since 2014, Russia has been accused of conducting hybrid warfare against Ukraine, which includes cyberattacks, economic pressure, propaganda, and military manoeuvres. These tactics have recently escalated, with the State Department claiming that Putin is planning a false-flag operation to create “a pretext for an invasion.”

As a result, this is how the conflict began and led to what we saw this year!

War=Health Crisis:

How is the Ukrainian conflict causing a health crisis? Let us hear the response from the people of Ukraine. As the conflict in eastern Ukraine worsened, many Ukrainians fled to neighbouring countries such as Poland. Katya and her daughter Alinka were two of them. “We decided (this) without hesitation because this is not only a war with our occupiers but also a war for the life of our child,” Katya, who did not give her surname, explained. She and her daughter are currently in Warsaw, Poland, awaiting further treatment for Alinka, who is in good health. They are among the over a million Ukrainians who have fled to Poland to escape the escalating conflict. Another 700,000 have fled to neighbouring countries like Romania and Moldova. According to the United Nations, four million people may be forced to flee their homes. As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning that the exodus of refugees from Ukraine could result in a regional health disaster as well as a massive toll of death and destruction from the fighting in Ukraine.

As people flee their homes, health services are disrupted, and supplies fail to reach Ukraine, fears of a larger public health crisis grow. The World Health Organization has issued a warning that oxygen supplies in Ukraine are running low, indicating that medical demands are already high. According to the Organization, Ukraine is experiencing a critical shortage of medical supplies, particularly cancer medications and vaccines used to prevent childhood diseases. The WHO has also stated that routine immunisation and polio outbreak control activities in Ukraine have been halted due to the ongoing conflict.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), which keeps track of medical facility attacks, there have been 31 reported raids in Ukraine in the last year. Damage or destruction of health-care facilities occurred in 24 incidents, while ambulances were destroyed in five cases. According to the WHO database, at least 12 people were killed and 34 others were injured during these attacks, which have hampered access to and availability of essential health care in targeted areas. The WHO is currently investigating additional incidents of violence against medical facilities, as such attacks continue to be reported despite international calls for protection from violence during times of war.

Francesco Rocca, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, recently visited Ukraine and Romania to assess the situation in the region five weeks after Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. He claims that the ongoing conflict has affected everyone in Ukraine. He estimates that 18 million people, or one-third of the country’s population, will require humanitarian aid. Furthermore, he claims that approximately 6.5 million internally displaced people and more than 4 million refugees in neighbouring countries will require international assistance. According to Rocca, Red Cross volunteers are providing safe toilets and shower facilities where they are needed, as well as water and hygiene supplies. They also provide first aid and psychosocial support, as well as transporting displaced people to hospitals and assisting families in reuniting via a hotline.

Long Term Challenge:

According to Kate White, emergency programme manager for Doctors Without Borders, international aid organisations and governments are rushing to send medical supplies and other aid to border crossing points with Ukraine. However, the United Nations refugee agency confirmed that there are currently no field hospitals on the Hungarian, Polish-Slovak, or Moldovan borders. The European Union is also working to assist member state Poland, and White stated that the EU’s standardised regulatory environment could speed up the delivery of supplies to the country. And some refugees are making their way westward: Germany has registered approximately 50,000 Ukrainian refugees.

Longer-term needs, such as patients who arrive without documentation, medication, or the ability to communicate in the language, present the most difficult problems. In its most recent report on the health impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the WHO prioritised diabetes, COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, as well as cardiovascular and respiratory conditions. These needs include assisting people with trauma injuries, such as Alinka, treating people with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and dealing with a wide range of trauma injuries.

Conclusion:

Peak health professionals refer to census data as demonstrating “the escalating disease epidemic in Ukraine, where tuberculosis (TB) has been on the rise for the past two years According to the WHO, “Ukraine lacks a comprehensive plan to combat tuberculosis. Doctors are overburdened with patients, and hospital staff are disappearing.” Returning internally displaced persons expose themselves to additional danger by living in high-risk areas, contributing to startling statistics.” Because of the fleeing war refugees, the Ukraine crisis has evolved into a humanitarian crisis. This article is important because it emphasises how this has become a global issue as nations try to assist those in Ukraine. Many of us are aware of Russia’s violence and atrocities against Ukraine, but few are aware of the horrors inflicted on Ukraine’s public health system. Even fewer are aware that the damage done to this sector could be enough to wipe out millions of lives in the coming months if immediate action is not taken. If you want to help Ukraine, please spread the word about what Russia is doing to their public health system.

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