The number of international medical partnerships almost doubled in a year
Today, on September 12, 2024, the Fourth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen was held at the initiative of First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska. The central theme of this year’s event is the safety of children and youth in war and military conflicts. Participants shared their vision and experience, and proposed concrete solutions to take care of the lives and health of future generations. As time has already shown, the First Ladies and Gentlemen Summit is a platform for communication and a launching pad for fruitful cooperation and joint effective projects.
Last year, the International Medical Partnership Program was launched under the patronage of the Third Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen and with the support of First Lady Olena Zelenska. At that time, 25 Ukrainian hospitals became twinned with hospitals in different countries to share experience and best practices.
During the year, 23 more memorandums of cooperation were signed within the framework of the international medical partnership initiative, bringing the total to 48.
“Last year, thanks to the support of First Lady Olena Zelenska during the Third Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen in Kyiv, we launched an important initiative — the International Medical Partnership Program. As a result, Ukrainian hospitals have begun to actively develop direct cooperation with twinned hospitals from around the world. We see the program actively developing and expanding. As of today, 48 medical partnerships have already been concluded, which is almost twice as many as at the start. This is evidence that the initiative is needed and timely. Our doctors are ready to share their own, largely unique, experience in responding to large-scale challenges such as war and are interested in gaining new knowledge and skills. I am confident that the constant exchange of experience along with joint developments will improve the quality of our medicine.”
It should be noted that 36 advanced hospitals from 18 countries have become twinned with Ukrainian hospitals. In particular, the UK, France, Moldova, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Israel, Sweden, North Macedonia, Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Turkey, etc.
The partnership involves 30 Ukrainian medical institutions from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Lviv, Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Chernihiv, Ternopil, Zakarpattia oblasts and the city of Kyiv.
For example, the initiative helped to reach an agreement on cooperation between the leading Berlin university hospital Charité and five Ukrainian medical institutions in the field of mental rehabilitation, and BG Kliniken, a leading German hospital chain specializing in rehabilitation, and a number of other Ukrainian hospitals.
One of the most striking examples of the results of partnerships is the development of reconstructive surgery. In particular, it is the effective work of the French-Ukrainian mission of reconstructive surgeons based at the Superhumans Center. Thanks to this mission, injured Ukrainians who suffered mine-blast injuries as a result of the war have the opportunity to receive the necessary treatment and reconstructive intervention from the best specialists free of charge. The fourth French-Ukrainian mission has now been completed.
In the course of special missions, French doctors provide medical care with the involvement of multidisciplinary teams of specialists of the highest expert level and the most modern equipment to Ukrainian patients who have sustained mine injuries and need highly specialized care.
In total, as part of the missions, medics have already performed 30 highly complex surgeries on patients with mine-blast injuries sustained as a result of the full-scale invasion. The next mission is scheduled for the autumn of 2024.
By strengthening international medical partnerships, Ukrainian doctors can share their experience with foreign colleagues, and the medical sector is able to develop at all levels. The experience gained will be implemented in the best practices of providing medical care to Ukrainian patients.