EU4Health grants €4 million to improve healthcare for Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons under temporary protection

The European Commission is launching today a project backed by €4 million from the EU4Health programme, to help improve access to healthcare for Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons benefitting from temporary protection in Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.

The project is supported by the Commission, together with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the World Health Organization (WHO). It will run for 24 months, and aim to strengthen the capacity of national health systems to cope with the influx of persons fleeing the war in Ukraine, and to improve patient access to national health systems during the period of temporary protection. Some of the initiatives to be jointly carried by the three partners include support for national health authorities to expand health coverage for refugees, including vaccination. The integration of displaced health workers from Ukraine into the health workforce of host countries, as well as efforts to establish and strengthen networks of such workers to enable them to provide the specific healthcare assistance needed by refugees, are also priorities for the project.

This project is another important step to cement EU-Ukraine cooperation on health matters after the Commission and the Ukraine Ministry of Health signed an Arrangement for Cooperation on Health in June 2023.

Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said: "As Russia's illegal war in Ukraine continues, almost 5 million refugees from Ukraine have been registered for temporary protection across the EU, and have the right to medical assistance and care. As more persons fleeing the war continue to arrive in the EU, we must ensure that healthcare systems in Member States and countries closest to Ukraine have the capacity to provide medical assistance for those in need. This initiative is a clear signal that we will continue to stand with Ukraine, its people, our Member States and partners for as long as necessary."

(For more information: Stefan De Keersmaecker – Tel.: +32 2 296 22 53 – Ana Apse-Paese – Tel.: +32 2 298 73 48)