Background:
During a war in Ukraine, the health care system often faces significant challenges and pressures due to increased demand for medical services, damage to infrastructure and population displacement. One of the enduring effects of this prolonged conflict – lack of medical equipment and personnel. The situation is extremely complex and challenging in Eastern Ukraine, affecting the accessibility and quality of health care for many Ukrainians. To provide breakthrough solutions to Ukraine’s health emergency, NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief established the Telemedicine project in the Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine in July 2023 to enable patients in a vulnerable area to access medical services that were not available due to a lack of professionals (some left, were killed or recruited to the army).
The concept of telemedicine is based on providing access to health services through advanced technology and the participation of leading medical experts to respond to the health needs of those most affected by the war crisis.
In this project NATAN collaborates with:
- The Israeli Medical Mission in Ukraine (IMM) – a public organization that helps the medical sector in Ukraine since the beginning of the war in 2022.
- ZIPHYCARE – an innovative healthcare company that uses advanced technology to provide effective remote medical advice.
Impact:
Volunteer doctors from NATAN, fluent in Russian and/or Ukrainian, provide online medical consultations to residents of Konstantinivka (located in a conflict zone). They come from various specialties: neurology, cardiology, endocrinology, internal medicine, and ophthalmology. Each practitioner covers shifts of two to three hours once a week or once every two weeks. NATAN’s team includes dedicated volunteers from Israel and the USA. State of the art telemedicine equipment is used in this project.
Impact in numbers:
- Since the beginning of the project (July 2023) 656 patients have received assistance.
- Most patients are women in the 50-60 and 60-70 age categories.
- Most common diagnoses: hypertension and ischemic heart disease.
- 13 doctors from NATAN provide online medical consultations to residents inUkrainian war zone
- Doctors’ shifts are 2 – 3 hours once a week or biweekly.