As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, the latter nation’s health system has understandably struggled to remain adequately staffed, to keep vital supplies stocked, and to ensure the safety of patients. Fortunately, some of Ukraine’s most vulnerable patients have found safety in the U.S. this week. Four Ukrainian children with cancer arrived at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis on Wednesday. The children traveled with their families from Krakow, Poland, aboard medical transport aircraft operated by the U.S. government. Some of the children, aged between one to eight years old, were clutching their stuffed toys when they arrived.
As of March 22, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed 64 attacks on health care facilities in Ukraine between February 24 and March 21. These have sadly resulted in 15 fatalities and 37 injuries. The WHO has publicly condemned this cruelty. “Attacks on health care are a violation of international humanitarian law, but a disturbingly common tactic of war—they destroy critical infrastructure, but worse, they destroy hope,” said Jarno Habicht, MD, a WHO representative in Ukraine. “They deprive already vulnerable people of care that is often the difference between life and death. Health care is not—and should never be—a target.”
According to a statement from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, it is the first hospital in the U.S. to take in patients from Ukraine. The families will also be settled into nearby housing as the young patients continue their cancer treatments at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; they will also receive trauma-informed psychosocial therapy. The hospital is also currently drawing up a school curriculum for the children and the siblings who have joined them. “The work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Ukraine reflects the hospital’s ongoing commitment to ensure children with cancer have access to lifesaving care, no matter where they live,” St. Jude President and CEO James R. Downing, MD, said in a statement. “Our promise to children with catastrophic diseases extends around the globe, and we are honored to play a part in helping these families move to safety to continue their children’s treatment,” Dr. Downing said. The hospital’s efforts are part of its wider program, St. Jude Global, which was conceived to increase the chance of survival for children fighting cancer and other serious diseases around the world.
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The hospital’s latest humanitarian program, SAFER Ukraine (Supporting Action For Emergency Response), is working collaboratively with Fundacja Herosi in Poland, the Tabletochki Charity Foundation in Ukraine, and a network of other foundations and international organizations, to swiftly and safely relocate children with cancer from the crisis zone and to provide them with the access to the medical care they so crucially need. “As we witness desperately ill children fleeing their homelands in terror, gripping the hands of their mothers, and carrying their diseases with them, we renew our vow to embrace and protect the lives of these helpless children, with the full power of our medical expertise and the unyielding compassion of our hearts,” said St. Jude National Outreach Director Marlo Thomas. So far, the initiative has assisted more than 600 patients.
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Source: SELF
