Ukraine Health Summit
At an event on 25 April 2023, hosted at Imperial College London, led by the Institute of Global Health Innovation and supported by the British Red Cross, we welcomed 80 attendees from healthcare, policy, education and care – from Ukraine and the UK.
The objectives of the day were:
- To describe the humanitarian work that has been undertaken so far in supporting Ukraine and the health priorities for the next 24 months;
- To explore opportunities for UK health organisations to work together with healthcare institutions in Ukraine;
- To describe areas of transformation within the restoration process for healthcare and indicate how these areas can be supported.
Attendees at the Ukraine Summit
Attendees at the Ukraine Summit
Panellists at the Ukraine Health Summit, chaired by Kamran Abbasi (Right)
Panellists at the Ukraine Health Summit, chaired by Kamran Abbasi (Right)
Nataliia Pidmurniak, Ukraine Medical Students Association, talks with Frances Ugwu and Ara Darzi
Nataliia Pidmurniak, Ukraine Medical Students Association, talks with Frances Ugwu and Ara Darzi
Attendees arrive at the Summit
Attendees arrive at the Summit
Through short talks and a panel discussion in the morning, participants discussed the humanitarian needs in Ukraine with a focus on the health sector. Kamran Abbasi, of the BMJ, brought out a dynamic and captivating discussion, with panellists Roman Cregg President of the Ukrainian Medical Association in the UK; Natalie Roberts, Executive Director Médicins Sans Frontières; Mike Adamson, CEO British Red Cross.
Watch the panel discussion here:
We welcomed remotely Sergii Dubrov, First Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine, and Oleksii Iaremenko, Head of the Project Office for the Restoration of the Health Care System of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, who delivered a keynote speech from Ukraine, as well as in-person keynotes by Professor Darzi, IGHI and Ulana Suprun, former Ukrainian Health Minister.
Transformation and restoration
In the afternoon, in breakout groups attendees looked to how to transform and restore healthcare in Ukraine.
Better care for children with complex long term health needs
In Ukraine, many children continue to be cared for in institutions. Estimates vary widely and suggest that between 90,000-200,000 children reside in these institutions.
Read more
Reimagining and rebuilding health systems and infrastructure in Ukraine
The war in Ukraine has caused substantial disruption to a health system that was already having to manage complex transitions.
Recovery of conflict related mental health needs
Ukraine’s health system must be rebuilt to ensure it addresses the needs of its population in a post-conflict setting. A focal point of the discussion was around the provision of mental health services.
A new model for medical education and training
With support of Ukrainian medical students contributing information about the impact of the conflict on Ukraine on the country's medical education system, a video was created to inform the breakout discussion.
An opinion piece by Lord Ara Darzi, Co-Director of IGHI, was published in the BMJ following the event.
Lord Darzi wrote: "There needs to be a concerted development of the primary healthcare infrastructure. The focus must be on facilities that include modern diagnostics and that will support a concerted effort to increase childhood immunisations, which have been impacted by COVID-19 and then by the Russian invasion. The second opportunity is to make better use of digital healthcare."
Bringing together experts and people with lived experiences for a crucial global issue enables us at IGHI to support transformation in healthcare, equity and access."
The team: Ahmed Ezzat, Peter Howitt, Melanie Leis, Niki O'Brien, Alexandra Shaw, Francis Ugwu
- Return to the IGHI Annual Report 2023
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