The health crisis in Eastern Ukraine is continuing to collapse after nine months of conflict in the country, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Friday.
There is a growing shortage of medicines and vaccines puts people at growing risk from diseases such as polio, measles and tuberculosis; people are trapped with little food; and fighting is making it hard to get to hospitals, which are often cut off from water and electricity, reported Reuters.
"We have special concerns for children, infants, and the lack of vaccines. Ukraine in the past month had no vaccines in the country, we are warning," Dr. Dorit Nitzan, WHO Representative in Ukraine, said in a news briefing in Geneva.
She added that there is a "huge risk of vaccine-preventable diseases" and that "measles and polio are first on the list."
This growing crisis is effecting 5.1 million people. Another 1.4 million are deemed highly vulnerable, reported Reuters.
WHO also "urgently" requested international donations of at least $23 million to help get the country out of the health crisis, according to a news release.
"The humanitarian health crisis in Ukraine is severe. Insecurity, displacement and cold weather, combined with the poor state of the country's health system, means that basic health care is out of the reach of many people," Nitzan said in the release. "The needs are huge, and international support is vital to ensure that health care is provided for Ukrainians at this difficult time."
WHO is currently working with humanitarian organizations as part of the Health Cluster response, to provide primary health care services, medicines, ambulances and other essential medical items to ensure Ukraine's most vulnerable communities receive support, according to the release.
Before the country's health crisis the Ukraine health system was already weak - especially in the cities of Donetsk and, particularly, Luhank, who are most affected by the crisis.
