WHO and Germany donate 20 ambulances to Ukraine to ensure combat medical care

WHO and the German government donated 20 ambulances to Ukraine to ensure emergency care during medical transportation amid the war.

Designed as mobile intensive care units, these vehicles will be used to provide the necessary care to patients who require additional life-sustaining measures during transportation to and between hospitals.

What is the problem?

Ambulances are not just vehicles but an opportunity for medics to save more lives. In the face of constant shelling, regular renewal of the emergency medical services' fleet is especially important.

According to Ukraine's health ministry, around 480 ambulances have been destroyed or damaged since the start of the full-scale war.

What is the solution?

The ambulances donated today are equipped with a range of crucial life-supporting devices, including defibrillator monitors, lung ventilators, medical oxygen delivery equipment, infusion pumps, ECG machines, stretchers, trauma care equipment, and other devices, allowing for the provision of life-saving care to critical patients during medical transportation.

"Ambulances are not just cars – they enable medics to save lives. In conditions of constant shelling, regular updating of the fleet of emergency medical vehicles is crucial. The Russian forces have already destroyed or damaged almost 500 ambulances. I am sincerely grateful to our international partners for their understanding and broad support. The 20 ambulances being provided to us by WHO today will soon support the work of doctors where they are currently most needed. They are equipped with everything that is necessary to provide medical assistance to patients in the most difficult conditions," said Viktor Liashko, Minister of Health.

Since full-scale war erupted in 2022, 95 ambulances have been donated to the Ministry of Health by WHO and its partners. More ambulances are set to be delivered in the coming months.

"With the devastating impact of war on Ukraine's health system, these 20 ambulances will enable interhospital medical transportation across Ukraine, including the country's eastern and southern regions, equipped to provide intensive and highly specialized care to seriously injured patients," said Gundo Weiler, acting Regional Emergency Director at the WHO Regional Office for Europe. 

How does it work?

The delivery was made possible with funding from the German government, the biggest donor to date towards WHO's health response to the war in Ukraine.

"Germany has been standing with Ukraine since the very first days of the Russian invasion. This donation is part of the overall support from the Government of Germany to WHO emergency programmes in Ukraine and in the neighbouring countries that receive and host refugees, amounting to more than €30 million this year. We thank the WHO team in Ukraine for their outstanding work," said Tim Prange, Deputy Ambassador of Germany to Ukraine. 

WHO has delivered more than 4000 metric tonnes of life-saving medical supplies to Ukraine since the war began. Deliveries have included power generators, ambulances, oxygen supplies for medical facilities, supplies for trauma and emergency surgeries, and medicines to help treat non-communicable diseases.