Baby Jasmin, 11 months old, undergoes regular checkups in Hungary to monitor her congenital heart condition. Born in Ukraine, she was diagnosed with valve stenosis and valve underdevelopment shortly after birth.
Partnering with IOM and EU for better health of refugees and displaced people from Ukraine
WHO is working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the European Union (EU) to support countries in improving the access to health-care services for refugees and displaced people from Ukraine.
Following the onset of the war in Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the Council of the EU activated the Temporary Protection Directive to offer assistance to people fleeing. Since the war began, millions of people have been forced to leave their homes. More than 5.9 million people from Ukraine are displaced across Europe as of November 2023.
The arrival of large numbers of displaced people has significantly burdened the national health systems of many refugee-receiving countries. To help countries to manage the situation, WHO, IOM and EU are working with national health authorities on a project to support and strengthen their health systems.
The project is called “Improving access to health care for refugees and people displaced from Ukraine benefiting from temporary protection in EU Member States” and is funded by the EU as part of the 2023 EU4Health Work Programme. It will be implemented from 2023 to 2025 in 10 European countries:
- Bulgaria
- Czechia
- Estonia
- Hungary
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Poland
- Republic of Moldova
- Romania
- Slovakia
WHO, EU and IOM will jointly:
- analyse and address the barriers and gaps that make it difficult for refugees and displaced people to access health services;
- support health authorities to expand health coverage and meet the health needs of refugees and displaced people from Ukraine;
- train health mediators to support refugees and displaced people in navigating the health system in the host country;
- establish and strengthen networks of health workers and train them to provide refugee-sensitive health services;
- empower displaced health workers from Ukraine to continue their professional development;
- increase vaccination coverage among refugees and displaced people from Ukraine; and
- establish health promotion programmes adapted to the realities in which refugees and displaced people from Ukraine live.
