Cholera, Covid-19 and depression: War leaves Ukraine vulnerable to health crises
India Today
It has been more than a month since Russia invaded Ukraine. According to the World Health Organisation, the war has left Ukrainian people vulnerable to several diseases including cholera, Covid-19 and depression.
There is no aspect of life that the war has left untouched in Ukraine. Beneath the conspicuous bombs, casualties and large-scale destruction lies a large problem that is easy to miss -- the healthcare situation in the country.
With compromised access to clean water and food and constant exposure to the devastation of war, the Ukrainian people are left vulnerable to encephalitis, cholera, Covid-19 and depression, among other illnesses.
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As per the World Health Organisation’s Ukraine office, disrupted access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and damage to homes in the war-hit country could increase the risk of vector-borne diseases such as West Nile fever and tick-borne encephalitis.
It may also heighten the risk of emergence of food-borne and water-borne diseases. Of note, an outbreak of cholera was identified in Ukraine in 2011 in the Mariupol region, an area currently experiencing armed conflict.
A single case of cholera was also detected in the Zaporizhzhia oblast in 2016.
As of March 18, an estimated 1,20,000 people did not have access to water in the Luhansk oblast, while around 4,60,000 across non-government-controlled areas were short of water supply.
