Disruptions to Ukraine’s health services pose acute risks to those with heart disease, cancer, diabetes: WHO

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) - Disruptions to Ukraine’s health services pose an extreme risk to those with cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV and tuberculosis -- the leading causes of mortality in the country, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief said Wednesday.

“(The) WHO has now verified 64 attacks on health care since the start of the war, and we are verifying further attacks,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a WHO webinar hosted in Geneva. “Attacks on health must stop. Health systems, facilities, and health workers are not, and should never be, a target.”

Tedros said it was one month since the Russian military operation began and almost 10 million people, nearly a quarter of Ukraine’s population, have been forcibly displaced.

“The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate in many parts of the country and it is critical in the Mariupol (southeast Ukraine) and Bucha (near Kyiv) districts,” said Tedros.

- Disruption to services

Displacement, poor shelter and overcrowded living conditions caused by the conflict also increase the risk of diseases such as measles, pneumonia, polio, and the coronavirus, he said.

So far, WHO has delivered 150 metric tons of medical supplies.

“We have established supply lines from our warehouse in Lviv to many cities in Ukraine but access to many parts of the country remains blocked,” said Tedros.

A humanitarian convoy to Mariupol was not able to be dispatched due to insecurity, he said.

WHO Europe said several hospitals had been repurposed to care for the wounded: a shift due to necessity -- coming at the cost of essential services and primary health care.

Approximately half of Ukraine’s pharmacies are thought to be closed. Many health workers are displaced or unable to work, said the WHO.

“Close to 1,000 health facilities are close to conflict lines or are in changed areas of control,” it said. “The consequence of that – limited or no access to medicines, facilities and health professionals – mean that treatments of chronic conditions have almost stopped.”

The WHO said COVID-19 vaccination and routine immunization have also come to a halt.

Before the war began, at least 50,000 people were getting vaccinated for COVID-19 each day but between Feb. 24 and March 15, only 175,000 were vaccinated for the virus.