USAID pivots Ukraine health project from COVID-19 to war

U.S.-based NGO Pact has begun implementing a five-year, $45 million effort funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development to help Ukraine’s health system cope with and recover from the impacts of Russia’s invasion. It is the largest single investment by USAID so far to help the government of Ukraine respond to public health shocks, according to Pact, and it aims to sustain public health services during a crisis and “expand mental health support to veterans and conflict-affected populations.” The project — called Ukraine Public Health Systems Recovery & Resilience — was originally designed to strengthen the country’s national health security in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But USAID changed course after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion initiated an assault on Ukraine’s civil infrastructure, which has included widespread targeting and destruction of health care facilities. The health costs of war: The World Health Organization has confirmed 230 attacks on health care in Ukraine — approximately three per day since the start of Russia’s invasion. These account for about two-thirds of all such attacks in the world this year. “I heard of ordinary citizens coming to the rescue of patients in hospitals under fire; of doctors and nurses coming out of retirement to volunteer their services for free; of boats being used to get medicines to people when roads were inaccessible; and many individual stories of bravery and sacrifice,” Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe, told reporters of his visit to Chernihiv province in northern Ukraine last week. In his opening remarks to the World Health Assembly on Sunday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appealed to world leaders to acknowledge that peace and health are inseparable goals. USAID’s operational status: While USAID personnel have yet to return to Ukraine and are still coordinating their activities from Poland, Pact does have staffers in the country. The health systems project held its kickoff meeting Friday, according to Becky Band Jain, integrated communications officer at Pact.