Since war began in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in February 2022, the Ukrainian health system has fallen apart. Much of the country’s infrastructure has been destroyed, damaged or converted for military use. At the same time, many doctors, surgeons and nurses have fled the country, or have been conscripted to serve in converted military hospitals.

EMERGENCY’s team is active in one of the most isolated areas in Ukraine, with a grassroots health project aimed at strengthening access to care in remote places that have been left without clinics, staff and medical services.

Where EMERGENCY is Working in Ukraine

In Donetsk, one of Ukraine’s easternmost oblasts, EMERGENCY is activating a network of clinics in some of the most remote parts of the territory. Our team is training both medical and non-medical personnel to provide support in the clinics and within the communities.

The intervention, in collaboration with the local authorities, is in Oleksandrivka, a town in the district of Kramatorsk.

The Network of Local Outpatient Clinics

In Ukraine, we are rehabilitating pre-existing buildings or installing shipping containers that have been converted into fully equipped outpatient clinics. In these facilities, general practitioners and local nurses offer medical and nursing services, completely free of charge.

The renovation, reactivation or construction of these facilities is essential to ensure access to care for those who find themselves in vulnerable and isolated conditions. This service allows people to continue treatments that had been interrupted and to monitor their health status, helping to prevent conditions from worsening and to ease the burden on hospitals.

Our beneficiaries have a clear awareness of how war is controlling every aspect of their lives. Living with the conflict, they have become ‘used to’ the threat of missiles and explosions, the constant military presence, the uncertainty. But they have not lost the determination to carry on with their lives: many decided not to leave, some did but have since returned, they did not want to leave their homes and fields. Possible advances and potential evacuations are the order of the day, but despite increasing difficulties, we are here to guarantee primary care to those who are resisting in difficult physical and mental health conditions, waiting to return to living in peace.”
Alessandro Manno, EMERGENCY’s Country Director in Ukraine

Training local staff to support rural communities

The training, support and coordination of teams of Community Health Workers makes it possible, in parallel, to make contact with people in their homes to better understand their needs.

Our Community Health Workers operate door-to-door, including by bicycle, to speak directly with community members, assess people’s needs, and immediately report the most serious cases, referring patients to the nearest Outpatient Clinics set up by EMERGENCY.

In addition to acting as listeners and as a “bridge” between the community and the network of clinics we are implementing in the area, the Community Health Workers also provide health promotion and prevention education and, for patients with reduced mobility, they organise escorts to health facilities.

Thanks to their work in the field, we can monitor individual’s health needs and map the needs and conditions of the wider community.

Before the war, my life was serene and stable, then everything changed with the conflict: gradually all contacts with the outside world eroded, also because of the reduction in means of transport, which does not make it easy to reach the health facilities.

EMERGENCY intervened in our communities by filling this gap, training us as Community Health Workers to reconnect people with their own needs, neglected for months or years. People are grateful for the service we provide, they tell us that, thanks to our role, they have stopped feeling abandoned and forgotten. Staying here is dangerous, we know that, but so is leaving and having no prospects for the future. That’s why many people have returned to live in the villages: only here do they really feel at home.”

Nadia, EMERGENCY Community Health Worker, Petrivka Druha village