WHO Ukraine has provided assistive technology kits (AT10 kits) with essential assistive products to health care facilities for thousands of internally displaced persons and other persons with mobility and self-care needs resulting from the war in Ukraine.
Up to 4000 assistive products, which include crutches, walking sticks, walking frames, wheelchairs, catheter kits and other items, have been provided to 12 hospitals in 5 regions in eastern Ukraine. Nearly 4000 people will benefit from the kits, thanks to funding from ATscale and the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund.
Dr Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative in Ukraine, said, “The importance of an effective rehabilitation system for people who require support during the war cannot be underestimated. These kits will enable those who have injuries to recover and continue
a full life and is part of our long-term rehabilitation activities in the country. In addition to the kits, WHO in Ukraine is providing capacity-building to health care workers across a range of health needs.”
Up to 100 health care
workers, including rehabilitation specialists, have been trained on the proper use of the AT10 kits via a WHO online training platform, called Training in assistive products (TAP), containing modules on how to assess and fit a person in need and train
them on how to use prescribed assistive products. Trainings have also been made available in Ukrainian.
“The rehabilitation capacity of hospitals in any country of the world, including Ukraine, depends primarily on the availability of trained rehabilitation personnel, which is predominantly not physicians, but physical, occupational, speech and language therapists,” explained Dr Volodymyr Golyk, WHO Technical Specialist on Rehabilitation for WHO Ukraine. “As of today, we hope to see increasing numbers of trained rehabilitation personnel and WHO in Ukraine is ready to support in this regard.”
All WHO programmatic activities are conducted in coordination with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and are fully aligned with their policies on rehabilitation system development in the country before and during the emergency response.This story was changed on 21 December 2022 to replace “the Global Partnership for Assistive Technology" with "ATscale" in the second paragraph.