The case in summary: Ukrainian surgeon in Norway, Anna Tribis, says that ambulances in Ukraine are bombed despite clear markings. There is a great lack of medical equipment in Ukraine, which means that many young men have to be amputated. The foundation HMM Helsehjelp Ukraina has provided medical equipment worth over NOK 150 million to Ukraine, but the equipment and health personnel are under attack. The World Health Organization has recorded 2,175 attacks on Ukraine’s healthcare system since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. The Ukrainian military is struggling to recruit new soldiers due to high death tolls and political uncertainty. HMM Helsehjelp Ukraine is working on developing equipment to protect healthcare personnel from attacks, including a drone jammer. The summary was created by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Anna Tribis is back in her office at Hagavik Kysthospital in Bjørnafjorden, south of Bergen. She has lived in Bergen for the past 15 years, but her love for her native Ukraine is unwavering. The impressions from the recent trip to war-torn Ukraine are strong. – It gets worse every time I’m there. Now the war has also come to my hometown, Sumy, she says. Every day she searches the news and social media for the latest news about the country, her hometown, neighbors and family members. Being able to be present and provide help as an orthopedic surgeon is a relief. – Here a splinter went in. The soldier suffered an open fracture, but we managed to save the leg. Anna Tribis shows a picture of an injured Ukrainian soldier. Photo: Benjamin Dyrdal / news It is not a given. – There is a huge shortage of medical equipment in Ukraine. Everything from drills to screws and plates, which are required to be able to repair broken bones, says Tribis and adds: – I myself have seen many young men, where amputation became the only way out. – They are obvious targets Recently, Anna Tribis was in Ukraine once again, under the auspices of the Bergen-based foundation HMM Helsehjelp Ukraina. She went there together with initiators Tor Fredrik Muller and Paal Christian Mowinckel. The foundation has provided medical equipment worth over NOK 150 million so far during the war. Now they have to think again to prevent attacks on those who are supposed to save lives. – They are obvious targets. There have been attacks on our mobile operating theatres, where lives have been lost, says Tor Fredrik Müller. Now it is important to be as inconspicuous as possible, explains Müller: – Together with Ukrainian health, we have created a new concept. It consists of a robust evacuation vehicle with the equipment needed to establish a stabilization point underground, in bunkers, vacated houses and the like. Tor Fredrik Müller reacts strongly to the healthcare system being attacked. He says that three people died when one of their mobile operating theaters was attacked this year. Photo: Oskar Rennedal / news UN reacts to increasing attacks on health care The World Health Organization (WHO) has, as of 6 December 2024, registered 2,176 attacks on Ukraine’s health care, since Russia’s invasion on 24 February 2022. The organisation, which is subordinate to the UN, considers attacks on health care is a global trend, and responds to the fact that aid workers are more often targeted and attacked in war and conflict areas. – Attacks on healthcare are becoming the new reality. We must stop this from becoming the norm, writes WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebryesus. – Attacks on healthcare are becoming the new reality. We must stop this from becoming the norm, reports WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebryesus. Photo: Christopher Black / Reuters The organization emphasizes that healthcare is protected under international law and conventions, and attacks can therefore constitute war crimes. Red Cross employees killed in Ukraine 28 people have been killed at work for the Red Cross so far in 2024. This is an increase from nine people who were killed in 2023, the organisation’s own figures show. – The dangers we face as a humanitarian organisation, especially in conflict areas such as Ukraine, Palestine and Sudan, have reached an alarming level. That’s what program director at the Red Cross, Håkon Jakob Røthing, tells news. – Even with clear symbols indicating neutrality and protection under international humanitarian law, we more often see injuries and death among colleagues. Håkon Jacob Røthing has himself been to Ukraine on behalf of the Red Cross. Here from one of the Red Cross’s emergency aid warehouses in Ukraine. Photo: Olav A. Saltbones / Red Cross Last September, three employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross were killed in an artillery attack on a distribution point for emergency aid in Donetsk, Ukraine. The Red Cross and Røthing are concerned that the protection of aid workers is not respected by warring parties. – It is illegal to attack an ambulance, a hospital or a humanitarian aid worker. The Geneva Convention clearly states that humanitarian and medical actors must be protected in war situations, says Røthing and states: – Health workers should not have to risk loss of life or limb while trying to save others. Patients should not risk death in the attempt to receive medical treatment. – We must constantly develop Anna Tribis believes that it has never before been more important to protect the healthcare system. – If doctors, nurses and paramedics die, who will save lives? Anna Tribis has been at the frontline several times, to contribute medical expertise and to record what the needs are in the Ukrainian sanitation. Photo: Benjamin Dyrdal / news – We equip the paramedics with what is required to do the most urgent first aid work, but also equipment to protect the person from being attacked himself, says Paal Christian Mowinckel, and shows off a drone jammer at the foundation’s warehouse in Bergen. – Drone jammer is a must for every paramedic in Ukraine. It is fresh produce and must be constantly updated, says Mowinckel and explains: – The technology is extremely advanced and is constantly developing. Therefore, we must also develop, in order to further contribute to saving lives. The Ukrainian sanitation equipped with drone jammers, which should disrupt the signal of Russian drones and prevent Ukrainian health personnel from being attacked. Photo: Oskar Rennedal / news Struggling to recruit new soldiers After over a thousand days of war, high death tolls and political uncertainty in the world, the Ukrainian military is struggling to recruit new soldiers. A great many do not show up when they are mobilized, and tens of thousands have deserted. – There are many people who are afraid to go to war, because they lack equipment and because they see that there are huge losses, says Paal Christian Mowinckel. Paal Christian Mowinckel believes that many Ukrainians refuse to be recruited into the military, for fear that there will not be adequate health care if they are injured. Photo: Oskar Rennedal / news He says he fully understands the fear many Ukrainians have of dying at the front. – But our impression is that morale is better than what is described in the newspapers here at home in Norway, adds Mowinckel. Anna Tribis thinks it is painful that the morals of Ukrainians are now being discussed. – Everyone is tired. But in Ukraine I see that people are not ready to give up. Hi! Do you have any tips for this, or other matters? Feel free to send me an e-mail: [email protected] Published 07.12.2024, at 07.33
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