Ukraine allocates over $26 million to shelters, hospitals
The Ukrainian government allocated Hr 1 billion ($26 million) for shelters and for creating safe conditions in hospitals in 2024, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Jan. 5.
According to Shmyhal, Ukraine's healthcare expenditures for this year will amount to Hr 239 billion ($6.28 billion), an increase of Hr 31 billion ($814 million) compared to 2023.
Ukraine's medical infrastructure came under heavy strain due to Russian aggression, deepening the humanitarian crisis wrought by the all-out war.
The World Health Organization's (WHO) representative in Ukraine, Jarno Habicht, said that healthcare expenditures are likely to grow in 2024 as a result.
Almost 1,500 medical facilities have reportedly been damaged in hostilities. According to Habicht, while 96% of medical sites in Ukrainian-held territories remain operational, the situation is different in every oblast.
In Donetsk Oblast, only one-third of facilities are operational, and in Kherson Oblast, over 70% of them have some kind of damage, the WHO official said.
Shelters, another item mentioned by Shmyhal, also play a crucial role in protecting the Ukrainian population amid daily Russian attacks.
After a summer audit uncovered that around one-third of Ukraine's shelters are not usable, President Volodymyr Zelensky tasked the authorities to put them in proper order.
