‘We are very concerned for the whole healthcare system in Ukraine’

The sick, wounded, and young mothers, rest on blankets and mattresses on the floor without proper hospital beds, says the director of Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition

Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) is a group of international non-governmental organisations (NGO) working to protect healthcare workers, services and infrastructure globally. As a member of the SHCC, Insecurity Insight monitors reported violence against healthcare workers and shares this information with the coalition and other stakeholders. Christina Wille, director, Insecurity Insight, speaks to The Hindu’s Bindu Shajan Perappadan on the condition of healthcare professionals and health facilities in Ukraine.

We are very concerned for the whole healthcare system in Ukraine. We know from our media monitoring that a number of hospitals have been damaged. As there is a high risk of any hospital being hit by explosive weapons causing indiscriminate destruction, many hospitals have moved patients into their basements. Most of these cellars were never built to accommodate patients. The sick, wounded, and young mothers, rest on blankets and mattresses on the floor without proper hospital beds. Curfews and roadblocks also make it very dangerous, if not impossible, for patients to reach hospitals. Ambulances have been shot at.

There are now shortages of key drugs and other lifesaving necessities because the supply chains to hospitals and pharmacies have been interrupted. This has put patients with long-term health needs, such as children with cancer or patients needing regular dialysis, in life-threatening positions. Expecting and young mothers and their babies are also very vulnerable.

We know this because we have a team of volunteers who monitor reports, and through the SHCC, we are in touch with doctors and nurses in Ukraine. They send WhatsApp messages and have spoken to colleagues via Zoom from hospital basements.

We issued a short summary of all the information we have been able to identify that describe violence against the health sector. It details the events we have heard of. However, we have not been able to independently verify. We wanted to put them out now because the world needs to know that there is a big concern. Most importantly, health workers in Ukraine need our support now.

Insecurity Insight tracks violence against healthcare in conflict and during health emergencies around the globe. Currently, we are also very concerned about the situation in Myanmar, as well as Sudan, where many health workers have been arrested and hospitals have been attacked. Over the past years, we also followed the conflicts in Syria, Libya and Nagorno Karabakh, where military attacks on healthcare were very common with devastating impact.

Hospitals are at great risk in any town that comes under shelling and bombardment in Ukraine. In towns that have been cut off, crucial infrastructure such as water and electricity [is impacted], hospitals cannot function and patients are at great risk of dying from totally avoidable complications.