1,000 days have passed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has pushed CUAMM to take action in favor of over five million internally displaced people and 5.8 million refugees.
Last week our team in the field got to Chernihivska Oblast to deliver kits and consumables including emergency bags, an orthopedic surgical kit, and ABC kits (Non-disposable, adult and paediatric) intended for the emergency services and surgical units for in-patient and trauma care to Borzna Central City Hospital. The facility is a second-level healthcare provider with 140 beds and it serves as referral points for the sorrounding area being the only facility in the radius of 80 km to be equipped with a surgery room and a trauma ward for the treatment of gunshot wound victims.
The security context of Chernihivska Oblast has been influenced by its proximity to the Russian border. At the beginning of the war, on the 24th of February 2022, Chernihivska Oblast was invaded by the Russian military. According to the International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO), in the period 16-31 October 2024, 141 total incidents were recorded, of which 94 in the previous two weeks only. In the first week of November, 28 incidents were recorded in the Oblast. This caused high pressure on the area’s central hospitals, including those in Borzna.
«In recent weeks, unfortunately, we have witnessed an intensification of the conflict, especially in areas close to the frontline, such as Dnipro and Sumy. The country’s healthcare system is increasingly strained, and the challenges are countless: in some areas, facilities are destroyed; in others, there is a lack of supplies, and even human resources are scarce. It is a dramatic situation that, despite the extraordinary resilience of the Ukrainian people, worsens day by day» said Antonio Zardini, CUAMM Head of Mission.
In the past three weeks alone, CUAMM has distributed about 500 kg of materials including medical equipment, consumables and emergency kit. This effort reaches the highest-risk areas, going as far as 10 km from the front line to ensure support to those struggling to guarantee healthcare to the population.
The activity is in line with Strategic Objective 113 of the HRP (Ukraine Humanitarian Response Plan) 2023 and Sectoral Objective 114 of the health cluster. It also aligns with the cluster’s standard activity: “Procure, pre-position, and distribute essential medicines, medical equipment, and medical commodities to health facilities”. The medical equipment kits to be distributed have been composed by CUAMM according to the needs of local hospitals and health authorities and following the guidelines set by the WHO Health Request Planning and Response Tool.
From our first activity concentrated in the city of Chernivtsi to the border with Romania, CUAMM’s intervention has grown reaching the war-affected areas of Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson with logistics support and provision of supplies to the health facilities in need.
Our project is part of a 46.5 million euro initiative funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, reaching 900,000+ people affected by the Ukraine crisis and it is being implemented in collaboration with Caritas Italiana, Caritas Drohobych Sambir and Volonterskiy ruh Bukovyny (VRB).
Doctors with Africa CUAMM has been working in Ukraine since March 2022, providing multisectoral responses to the urgent needs of the most vulnerable populations affected by the Ukrainian conflict. Since the onset of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, CUAMM has adopted a flexible, multisectoral approach to address the multidimensional needs of war victims. In close collaboration with local authorities and civil society organizations, CUAMM has developed an intervention strategy aimed at supporting and integrating the socio-healthcare system in conflict-affected countries, ensuring access to essential and life-saving services for the most vulnerable groups.
