Paris, 19 April 2023 – Since the beginning of 2023, Mehad’s medical training project in Ukraine has been in constant development. With the revitalisation of the Lviv training centre, the opening of a new centre in Kharkiv, the distribution of medical equipment and cooperation agreements with the Ukrainian health authorities, the project as a whole had trained more than 1,000 civilian medical staff by the end of March 2023.
Development of training centres (Lviv and Kharkiv)
The Lviv training centre, the first stage of the project, is currently providing training insurgical damage control , fast ultrasound (TUSC-UA), psychologicaldamage control and medical evacuation.
A new training centre opened in Kharkiv in January 2023, an extension to the east of the country aimed at training doctors who will be able to make real use of their medical and health knowledge and skills as close to the front line as possible.
Fast ultrasound training has also been provided at the International European University in Kyiv, and mobile training courses are currently being developed.
All the modules are geared towards sustainability, thanks to a focus on training the trainers, who are then able to train their counterparts and multiply the number of training courses.
By the end of March 2023 , 1,050 civilian medical and paramedical staff had been trained at these centres.
Cooperation with Ukrainian healthcare players
Reaffirming its desire to be in constant contact with the local authorities, the organisation has developed partnerships with various players, such as the Regional Departments of Emergency Medicine in Lviv and Kharkiv, and the Ukrainian Resuscitation Council.
An agreement with the Ukrainian Ministry of Health is also awaiting signature.
On 28 March 2023, the Kharkiv Regional Hospital officially handed over 30 ultraportable ultrasound scanners to hospitals in the Kharkiv Oblast and neighbouring Oblasts (Poltava, Dnipro, Kherson, etc.)as part of the fast ultrasound teaching project. The official event was attended by the Oblast Health Director, representatives of the beneficiary hospitals and representatives of the local press. Around fifty people attended the event.
Visit from French Health Minister François Braun
This training project was developed in conjunction with Chaîne de l’Espoir, with funding from the Crisis Centre (CDCS) of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As part of this cooperation, the French Health Minister, François Braun , visited the Lviv training centre on 15 April 2023, accompanied by theFrench Ambassador to Ukraine, Etienne de Poncins, and a delegation of French doctors. The delegation visited the premises in the presence of the project manager, Professor Raphaël Pitti, to meet the Ukrainian staff and observe how the centre operates, while a number of training courses were taking place.
