HSE donates €2.4m worth of medical equipment to countries in need in 2023
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Over €2.4m worth of medical equipment, including vital ventilators and ultrasounds, was donated by the HSE to countries in need, including Ukraine last year.
It comes as Ukrainian healthcare centres including hospitals continue to face attacks from Russian forces — with 19 facilities hit so far this month alone leaving one person dead and 19 injured. Donations for Ukraine also included heart monitors, 145 boxes of PPE, beds, cochlear implants and 24 pallets of open boxes containing needles, syringes or hand wipes.
A diesel generator and Cummins engine were also sent to support under-siege health centres along with beds, humidifiers and other medical equipment. The commercial value of all HSE donations came to €2,480,109.
The need for these supports was highlighted in recent data from the World Health Organisation showing attacks by Russia on healthcare centres and warehouses storing medical equipment continue.
Since the invasion began in February 2022, more than 2,000 attacks were made on healthcare facilities including hospitals in Ukraine. While the number has dropped since the start of the war, this month saw 12 attacks targeting facilities, eight on ambulances or other medical transport and three which impacted supplies.
Here in Ireland 1,246 Ukrainian healthcare workers across all staff categories have registered their interest in wanting to work for the HSE. A key barrier to starting work here is English language skills with a high level of fluency needed for dealing with patients and working with medical English.
The HSE’s health business service recruitment website also connects Ukrainians with medical English classes. So far, 230 people have finished or are doing short clinical English training courses, a spokeswoman said.
A further 16 Ukrainian health workers took a free Intensive English course for nurses and healthcare workers.
This was started last year by the Education and Training Boards a spokeswoman for the Department of Further and Higher Education said. The health workers finish with a Cambridge B1 Preliminary qualification.
Meanwhile, a separate aid convoy supported by the non-profit 'What About Us' music organisation which left from Wicklow last month has delivered medical aid to the war-torn country.
The convoy of 4x4s, an ambulance, a truck, and a minibus travelled to Lviv and Kolomaya in Ukraine in company with Scottish organisation Jeeps for Peace.
Co-organiser Stephen Byrne said they visited a graveyard in Lviv. As the team walked between the graves they “read the names of the young soldiers, their date of birth, the date they were killed, their photograph, many smiling, happy in a previous time, before the war.
“We all walked alone, trying with difficulty to comprehend it all,” he shared on the non-profit’s website.