Medical facilities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts receive oxygen equipment thanks to EU and UN

November 19, 2020

Oxygen concentrators will be used in hospitals for oxygen therapy to treat patients with respiratory disorders and alleviate COVID-19 symptoms

Photo credit: Oleksandr Simonenko / UNDP in Ukraine

Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast, 19 November 2020 – The European Union and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine together donated 60 specialized oxygen concentrators to medical facilities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

Oxygen concentrators (with output rates of 10 litres per minute) are special devices that separate oxygen from air and supply high concentrations of oxygen (more than 90 percent). Such devices are used for oxygen therapy and treatment of patients with respiratory disorders and to ease the course of the COVID-19 disease.

The coordinator of the Local Governance and Decentralisation Reform Component of the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, Olena Ruditch, said that boosting support for medical facilities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts remains a key area of ​​programmatic activities in eastern Ukraine, and that it will be continued until the epidemiological situation in the country eases.

“Today, most hospitals are overloaded due to the growing number of patients with COVID-19, so the possibility of oxygen therapy is extremely critical,” Ruditch said. “We’re working to ensure that even more medical facilities in eastern Ukraine are able to respond quickly to the needs of their patients.”

One of the main problems faced by severely ill patients, especially patients with COVID-19, are breathing difficulties. Oxygen is a major component in the treatment of both severe pneumonia and other conditions, and therefore the specialized concentrators will be able to provide quality respiratory therapy and help alleviate the effects of the disease.

Acting Head of the Luhansk Oblast State Administration and acting Head of the Oblast Military-Civil Administration, Kateryna Bezghynska, thanked the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme.

“Today, when the Luhansk Oblast is struggling with a pandemic that the world's most powerful medicine is unable to resist, UNDP has once again extended a helping hand,” Bezghynska said. “Another 50 oxygen concentrators will arrive in the Oblast's hospitals right before the disease hits its highest peak – this means hundreds of lives saved. I hope that together we will overcome COVID-19 and concentrate our joint efforts on the implementation of new projects.”

In Donetsk Oblast, oxygen concentrators were received by the Oblast Perinatal Centre in Kramatorsk, the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Kostiantynivka, the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Myrnohrad, and in Luhansk Oblast – the Oblast Clinical Hospital in Sievierodonetsk.

Acting Director of the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Kostiantynivka Nadiia Sheichenko also noted the systematic support of the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme.

“This is a major contribution during a pandemic to improving the treatment of patients with coronavirus infection who need oxygen support at our facility,” Sheichenko said. “The use of concentrators often alleviates the condition of such patients, and sometimes saves their lives.”

The equipment, worth U.S. $46,105, was purchased under the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, with financial support from the European Union, to meet the key needs of health facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this autumn, UNDP and the European Union also donated 100 oxygen concentrators to hospitals in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, as well as medical monitors for patients.

Background

The United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme (UN RPP) is being implemented by four United Nations agencies: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Thirteen international partners support the Programme: the European Union (EU), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, and the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

Media enquiries

Maksym Kytsiuk, Communications Associate, the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, maksym.kytsiuk@undp.org, +380 63 576 1839

Medical facilities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts receive oxygen equipment thanks to EU and UN