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As a result of russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, the number of injured Ukrainian citizens who need specialized treatment and further rehabilitation is growing every day.

Now, due to the damaged infrastructure and the conduct of military operations in certain territories of Ukraine, it is difficult, and sometimes simply impossible, to treat such patients. Therefore, from the first day of a full-scale war, the Ministry of Health and its partners provide medical evacuation of victims for treatment and/or rehabilitation abroad.

One of the directions is the transfer of Ukrainian patients to European countries for treatment, due to Ukraine’s cooperation with the European Commission. Coordination of victims is carried out through the Civil Protection Mechanism, according to which patients receive specialized medical care throughout Europe.

In this direction, 1,000 affected Ukrainians have already been transferred for treatment to 18 countries: Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Romania, Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Lithuania, Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic and Norway. This was stated by the European Commissioner for health and food safety Stella Kyriakides.

In addition, the Ministry of Health due to the partnership with municipal non-commercial enterprise “West Ukrainian specialized children's Medical Center” (Lviv) and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as part of the SAFER Ukraine program, providing medical evacuation of Ukrainian children with cancer and hematological diseases for treatment in the United States, Canada and 14 European countries.

In total, within the framework of cooperation between the Ministry of Health and the European Commission, with the support of WHO, the Polish government and many international partners, about 1,400 Ukrainians have already been evacuated by specialized medical transport from different cities of Ukraine to foreign clinics.

These are adults and children with combined severe mine-explosive injuries, burns, cancer patients and patients with diseases that require specialized treatment. An average of four evacuation flights abroad is carried out every week.

The algorithm works as follows: the Ministry of Health of Ukraine submits a request for evacuation and receives proposals from various member states of the European Union and the European Economic Area regarding the readiness to accept patients and provide them with the necessary treatment. Further, the Ministry of Health contacts the country that accepts patients and coordinates the stages and routes of safe medical transportation.

International partners, in cooperation with the emergency medical service of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, provide transportation of patients from the hospital in the frontline territory through the Lviv medical hub to the airfield in Poland. Then the air hospitals continue the route.

Another unique experience for the international medical community is the experience of organizing 15 “medical convoys” from Ukraine to the UNICORN Children’s Cancer Center (Poland) and then delivering them for specialized treatment to leading children’s cancer centers identified by the International community of pediatric oncologists. Due to this, more than 500 children with cancer have already continued treatment in Europe, the United States and Canada.

The Ministry of Health of Ukraine expresses its gratitude to international partners and friends and medical colleagues for their help and solidarity with Ukraine in protecting our citizens.