On September 12, the CDC Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Office and CDC Ukraine Country Office hosted a meeting in Kazbegi, Georgia to support Ukraine Recovery Planning and continued health cooperation with the Public Health Center of the Ministry of Health and other partners, including the World Health Organization (WHO), ICAP at Columbia University, I-TECH at University of Washington, and the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID).
Public health system recovery planning in Ukraine is aimed at mitigating the expected surge in treatment-resistant infections among the war-wounded and strengthening the ability to identify and treat these pathogens at the clinical-level, enhancing the detection of infectious diseases and other health threats, strengthening the public health response to these threats, and ensuring the information to make these decisions is accurate and timely.
The primary goals of the meeting included:
- Clearly defined 18-24 month objectives for each of the defined programmatic areas.
- Consensus on technical and operational approaches to achieve these objectives.
- Identification of minimum requirements and priority activities for implementation in FY23.
- Identification of synergies across all programmatic areas.
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation and indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas and other war crimes by Russian forces have led to substantial challenges for the public health system, particularly in war affected regions of country. These circumstances have made international support and cooperation critical for the health and safety of the Ukrainian people.
The Public Health Center of Ukraine and Ministry of Health are grateful to all international partners for their support during such challenging times. We are committed to leveraging this support for the long-term and sustainable strengthening of our capabilities in the future.