war in Ukraine
Lviv hospital overwhelmed by war-wounded children
According to UNICEF, around half of the people fleeing Ukraine are children. Photo: Bryan Smith/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
According to Unicef, so many injured children arrive at the Lviv hospital that a sticker system has been developed. Black stickers are given to patients who can no longer be saved.
According to the UN children’s charity Unicef, the hospital in the Ukrainian city of Lviv (Lemberg) on the Polish border is overwhelmed by the number of injured children arriving from embattled regions. Unicef and the World Health Organization (WHO) are trying to supply this and other hospitals with material.
A UNICEF spokesman in Geneva reported that doctors in Lviv had to set up a sticker system to coordinate the treatment of the children.
A green sticker means: injured but not urgently needed, yellow means: needs treatment, and red means: this child needs immediate attention. There are also black stickers, the spokesman said: the child is still alive, but it cannot be saved and the hospital is forced to focus its resources on other small patients.
“Only way out: end the war”
“The only way out of this catastrophe is to end the war, and do it now,” said spokesman James Elder. Among other things, Russia is attacking the water supply in some regions.
People sometimes take heaters apart to drink the cooling water in their distress. According to Elder, half of the now three million refugees are children and young people.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 31 health facilities in Ukraine have already been attacked and damaged. 22 teams of doctors from other countries have meanwhile arrived in Poland and Moldova or are on their way there to help fleeing Ukrainians and to support local colleagues. The WHO coordinates these operations.