Ukraine

MSF first worked in Ukraine in 1999, supporting the Ministry of Health to treat HIV. From 2011 to 2014, MSF ran a drug-resistant tuberculosis programme within the regional penitentiary system in Donetsk. MSF has been responding to the conflict in eastern Ukraine since 2014 and has also been providing specialised programmes for treatment of infectious diseases, including drug-resistant tuberculosis, hepatitis C, and advanced HIV. When the current conflict broke out in February 2022, MSF was running a drug-resistant tuberculosis project in Zhytomyr, an HIV project in Sievierodonetsk and working to improve access to primary healthcare for people affected by conflict in eastern Ukraine.

MSF response to the war in Ukraine

Since the outbreak of fighting across the country, MSF teams have been responding to a severe humanitarian crisis, both in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries. About 5.6 million people  have crossed from Ukraine into neighbouring countries such as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova, Romania, Belarus and Russia.  An estimated 7.7 million are displaced within Ukraine. 

 MSF teams had been working in eastern Ukraine and have now suspended our usual medical activities, including our HIV and tuberculosis programmes. In response to the war, we currently have a team of about 140 international staff and 470 Ukrainian staff working in the country. More people are joining the team every day as medical staff (doctors, nurses); psychologists; logistics and administration; and management. MSF teams are currently based across the country, supporting health facilities and providing supplies and training as needed.

Our teams are:

  • Supporting Ukrainian medics by providing supplies and training and medically evacuating patients –with an ambulance service and a referral train- from overwhelmed facilities in eastern areas to safer places
  • Assisting vulnerable people who’ve fled their homes or stayed behind in areas with heavy fighting by providing primary healthcare, including treatment for chronic illnesses.
  • Providing, and helping Ukrainian psychologists and first responders to provide mental healthcare for people who’ve faced intensely traumatic experiences and growing uncertainties about the future.

More updates are below: