Viktor Liashko, Minister of Health of Ukraine, and Andriy Klepikov, Executive Director of the Alliance for Public Health, joined the #POLITICOHealthCare Summit 2022, organized by POLITICO Europe, and spoke about the new threat to the country, how it is countering it and the TOP 3 urgent needs of Ukrainians.
Special attention was paid to the sustainability of the healthcare system and the biggest challenges for Ukraine caused by Russia’s large-scale military aggression.

Thus, Viktor Lyashko said that today in Ukraine more than 1000 medical institutions have been destroyed or damaged. This perfectly illustrates how negatively the war affects the civilian infrastructure.
It should be noted that today more than 7 million forced war refugees have left Ukraine and about 8 million people have moved inside the country. This happened only during the Second World War.
Andriy Klepikov said that the Alliance for Public Health and other NGOs are working side by side with the state and medical institutions. In some areas of the eastern part of the country, where hospitals are either destroyed or severely damaged, there are people who still need medical care. So civil society and communities are using mobile clinics to help.
“Previously, we used them only for HIV testing, but now mobile clinics have a wide range of services, including basic services such as blood pressure measurement and others. This is a good example of how civil society modifies services in response to existing needs. Today, health programs need more mobility and digitalization, which we are also working on. Because it is obvious that all people who have moved use online services, chatbots, telegram channels to get access to treatment.”
It should be noted that on March 1, the Alliance for Public Health, with the support of The Global Fund, launched an international support service for internally displaced persons and migrants #HelpNowHUB on the basis of SoS_project. The hub’s services provide online access to HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis treatment, access to substitution and hormone therapy around the world, as well as the opportunity to get an online consultation with a doctor and restore the “prescription / history of HIV treatment”, which was lost due to the war.
“Our system is quite stable, even in wartime. And Ukrainians are very inventive. For example, we found a way to deliver medicines during the fuel shortage. We promptly purchased bicycles and did it without interruption. And when there were no bicycles, social workers walked! This is an illustration of incredible resilience and dedication,” said Mr. Klepikov.
Answering the moderator’s question, Andriy Klepikov noted that today a new threat hangs over Ukraine. “Russia wants to kill civilians with cold this winter. This is a really well-thought-out strategy of a terrorist state and a crazy person who gives orders. Therefore, it is very important to resist it. We desperately need to add a humanitarian element to health programs.”
Recently, the experts of the Alliance for Public Health conducted a survey of urgent needs among representatives of key communities and according to its results, it is possible to identify the TOP-3 needs that are most relevant for Ukrainians today
access to food in Ukraine, a European country, is the main need(!!!????);
access to heat, clothing and to be warm in order not to freeze;
support for mental health.
You can watch the full speech of Andriy Klepikov in the attached video.
Other interviews and discussions of the summit: https://www.politico.eu/healthcare-summit/#Program