Themes by tag: doctors

On November 15 to 16, the FRIDA Ukraine medical volunteer mission will travel to Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts (oncology screening).

By prior arrangement, journalists have the opportunity to document the work of the medical volunteers and conduct interviews with patients and doctors.

Background: FRIDA Ukraine’s medical volunteer missions are regular outreach trips by a team of doctors to frontline and remote communities in Ukraine. Each mission includes over 20 specialists in various fields, such as neurologists, surgeons, gynecologists, therapists, and dermatologists.

During these missions, the team provides free medical appointments, consultations, and tests for local residents. Recently, the team has also begun conducting oncology screenings to help detect illnesses at their initial stages.

• doctors
• volunteers
• Chernihiv
• Sumy

Viktoriia Kramarenko worked at a burn center in Kyiv from 2008. When russia first attacked Ukraine in 2014, she began volunteering, traveling to the east to help save and evacuate wounded soldiers from the front lines.

Starting in 2015, Viktoriia officially served as a medic with military units, deploying on rotations to the front lines. In 2018, she founded the Wings of Victory charitable foundation.

Following the start of the full-scale invasion, Viktoriia began teaching tactical medicine to new recruits immediately. Once she acquired an ambulance, she began evacuating the wounded from Irpin, Bucha, and Hostomel. Subsequently, she worked near Lysychansk in the Luhansk region, assisting Ukrainian fighters in hospitals.

Through her foundation, Viktoriia launched a rehabilitation and recovery program for military personnel, purchasing sports equipment and setting up a swimming pool. They even bought a horse for hippotherapy. Viktoriia is currently applying for grants to secure financial aid and continue her work with service members.

Viktoriia Kramarenko is available for interviews, both online and in person in Kyiv, by prior arrangement.

• doctors
• volunteers
• women
• Kyiv

From October 27 to 31, the sixth “Face the Future Ukraine” medical mission will take place in Ivano-Frankivsk. This international initiative brought together surgeons from Canada, the United States, and Ukraine to perform reconstructive surgeries on 30 wounded military personnel and civilians.

A team of 15 foreign medical professionals, including surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses, has arrived in Ukraine. They are operating in collaboration with Ukrainian doctors. The mission’s patients have severe mine-blast injuries to the face and neck sustained as a result of the war, including damage to the eye orbit, severe nasal injuries, and missing jaw fragments.

During the previous five missions, medical teams have operated on 245 Ukrainians.

By prior arrangement, journalists can speak with the team of doctors and patients in person in Ivano-Frankivsk.

• casualties
• doctors
• Ivano-Frankivsk

A mobile medical clinic will be set up in Kyiv on October 19 to provide free breast and gynecological screenings for women. The one-day event is organized by FRIDA Ukraine, a medical volunteer mission, together with the DILA diagnostic laboratory.

Inside the specially equipped mobile unit, women can receive breast and pelvic ultrasounds, Pap tests using liquid-based cytology, and meet with breast and women’s health specialists. All exams will be performed by experienced FRIDA volunteer doctors.

The health-care drive comes ahead of October 20, Ukraine’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Day. The entire month of October is traditionally devoted to promoting early detection and preventive care. Organizers say the goal is to remind women to schedule regular screenings and take a proactive approach to their health.

Throughout the day, FRIDA volunteers will also hand out information on breast cancer prevention and women’s health. 

Media accreditation is required to cover the event.

For reference: FRIDA Ukraine is a volunteer mission that brings together more than 1,100 doctors from multiple countries. Its teams work in frontline and recently liberated areas, running field clinics that deliver free medical care to civilians affected by the war and occupation.

• doctors
• volunteers
• Kyiv

A team of Romanian veterinarians, led by Dr. Ioan Răzvan Șuteu from Cluj-Napoca, launched the “RoUa” campaign (its name combining Romania and Ukraine) to provide free veterinary care to injured, abandoned, and neglected animals throughout Ukraine. The initiative grew from Dr. Șuteu’s long-standing work with stray and underserved animals and his experience coordinating a mobile medical network for rural communities.

The core team includes two surgeons (Dr. Șuteu and Dr. Emma Stratulat), an anesthesia specialist from Slovenia, a PR photographer, and student volunteers.

The campaign provides on-site surgeries, sterilizations, and basic medical care; local partnerships (STEP in Brody, Inițiativa Cremeneț) ensure long-term follow-up for animals requiring extended care. The team uses translators and Google Translate to manage language barriers and leaves written treatment instructions for owners and local caregivers.

The team is currently working in Ukraine’s Ternopil region. Interviews with the veterinarians can be arranged in person through October 17 or conducted online by prior request.

• animals
• doctors
• volunteers
• Ternopil

From October 5-10, FRIDA Ukraine is holding its second retreat for medical professionals from the Kharkiv and Sumy regions along the border with russia, as part of a mental health recovery initiative. The program is supported by the Capable and Strong program, a collaboration between the Eastern Europe Foundation and the Swiss Government, and is taking place in the Chernivtsi region.

Twenty health professionals, including doctors and nurses, several from Izium, are participating in the wellness retreat. They all serve in frontline areas, facing constant stress and high-pressure conditions.

Journalists are invited to attend one day of the recovery program to observe activities and speak with participants.

• doctors
• Chernivtsi

The Hospitails’ mission brings together veterinarians and volunteers to evacuate animals from Ukraine’s active combat areas.

One of the key Hospitallers voluntary organization’s efforts first sprang into action in June 2023, after the occupiers blew up the Kakhovka dam, endangering countless animals. Since then, Hospitails has operated systematically, equipping a fully functional mobile operating room that allows the team to vaccinate, treat, and perform surgeries on animals directly in the field.

In its first year, the project rescued and rehomed roughly 200 animals. The team vaccinated and treated 243 animals during field missions, performed 168 surgical and sterilization procedures, and distributed 10 tons of humanitarian aid.

Journalists can cover the team’s work by prior arrangement.

• animals
• doctors
• volunteers

On October 10, 20 children in Lviv will get a one-of-a-kind opportunity to get hands-on experience in robotic surgery using Ukraine’s only Da Vinci Si system. For the first time, they will step into the role of surgeon, operating the very robot that helped save their lives.

The session coincides with the opening of a new, state-of-the-art operating theater at St. Nicholas Hospital, built from scratch in just one year with support from the Scottish charity Kids OR. The organization, which has renovated 101 operating theaters in 35 countries, is bringing its expertise to Ukraine for the first time. The new facility will significantly expand the hospital’s surgical capacity at a time when its workload has tripled since the start of the war.

The session will take place in the hospital’s old operating room, after which the Da Vinci system will be moved to the new theater. Since the first pediatric robotic surgery in Ukraine 18 months ago, Lviv doctors have completed 106 procedures – the most in Eastern Europe. Their youngest patient was just two months old.

Registration is required to attend.

• children
• doctors
• Lviv

Oleksii Prytula is a veterinarian from Odesa. During the full-scale invasion by russia, he defended the country. In September 2022, he sustained severe injuries and lost both legs. He received prosthetics and underwent rehabilitation at the Superhumans Center in Lviv. Subsequently, he returned to work as a veterinarian in Odesa.

Oleksiy joined the national team that represented Ukraine this year at the first-ever Winter Hybrid Invictus Games in Canada (disciplines: curling, skeleton, alpine skiing, rowing on simulators). He also participated in the All-Ukrainian wheelchair rugby competitions. Additionally, he practices archery and wheelchair basketball.

Upon prior arrangement, journalists can speak with Oleksii in person in Odesa or online.

• animals
• casualties
• doctors
• military
• Odesa

Ukraine’s sole military veterinary facility, the First Military Hospital of Veterinary Medicine, operates in Khmelnytskyi. Its veterinarians provide care not only for service animals but also for the pets of displaced families. The hospital regularly treats animals with concussions or shrapnel wounds.

The hospital’s specialists also travel into frontline and recently liberated areas to rescue animals, making more than 50 such trips so far. One survivor is a fox from Bucha, discovered by children and brought to the doctors. Despite burns covering nearly 80 percent of its body, the animal was saved and still lives at the hospital.

Altogether, the hospital’s team has treated several thousand animals since the start of the full-scale war.

• animals
• doctors
• Khmelnytskyi