CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)
Response in Europe

Ukraine

International Medical Corps is working with the Ministry of Health to implement a COVID-related health and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) program in Donetsk region. We also are continuing to provide training and counseling services in Ukraine on mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), both directly and in coordination with local partners, through remote means that include telephone and online groups. The team has also delivered printed booklets to its different field sites, enabling those without tablets and smartphones—including older people, who are more vulnerable to the virus—to participate. Our MHPSS team provides awareness-raising discussions on various topics related COVID-19, including “Stress Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” “Stigmas Related to COVID-19 Prevention and Reduction” and “COVID-19 Stress Management for Adults Taking Care of Children.” We are conducting workshops for frontline healthcare workers based on IASC Basic Psychosocial Skills: Guide for COVID-19 Responders. This workshop for doctors and nurses covers topics that were identified during our assessment of needs of local clinics and hospitals’ medical staff, including self-care, stress management, supportive communication, prevention of emotional burnout, the basics of psychological first aid for colleagues and patients during the pandemic, and prevention and management of infections. Through local activists, we provide risk communication and community engagement activities in eight villages, and have provided handwashing stations/disinfectant dispensers to 27 rural clinics around the contact line of eastern Ukraine. Since December 2021, our mobile medical unit (MMU) has provided medical consultations for community members in 19 locations in Donetsk oblast, using medicines and consumables from the World Health Organization (WHO). The MMU’s medical staff—an endocrinologist, gynecologist, urologist, ophthalmologist, ENT, surgeon, ultrasound specialist and a general practitioner who is also qualified as a cardiologist and neurologist—visit locations four times a week. As of January 2022, we have conducted 1,398 consultations with 722 people.