The head of the World Health Organization came to Ukraine to express his support, see the places of the catastrophe, and assess how exactly the WHO can help Ukraine and Ukrainians.
"Arrived in Ukraine. As a child of war, I know how children and adults trapped in this war feel. I want to assess how WHO can increase our support to them. I will also meet our staff here - they are doing tremendous work under extremely difficult circumstances," Tedros Ghebreyesus wrote on Twitter.
During this day, the director-general of the WHO visited hospitals in the Kyiv region and personally talked with doctors, nurses, and other medical workers who are now guarding the lives of Ukrainians. Ghebreyesus brought 20 ambulances and blood coolers with him and donated them to Ukrainian hospitals.
Tedros Ghebreyesus was born in Ethiopia during the civil war. What he saw today in the broken de-occupied cities of the Kyiv region horrified Ghebreyesus and reminded him of those terrible events that he himself had once experienced.
“As a child, I experienced the smell, sound & devastation of war. My time in Kyiv has brought back those very painful & vivid memories of fear, pain & loss. I know the horror that people in Ukraine are experiencing & wish for peace to return — here & everywhere in the world,” Tedros Ghebreyesus.
In Kyiv, the director of the WHO spoke with the minister of health, Viktor Lyashko. Two guardians of the health of man and humankind discussed the medical needs of Ukraine, which WHO can fill. Lyashko and Ghebreyesus also discussed the issues of evacuation and rehabilitation of Ukrainians who suffered from Russian weapons and violence. Ghebreyesus stressed that WHO will continue to supply Ukraine with medicines and other assistance.
