Ukraine visit 1st post

On Sunday, we were to meet up again with our long-standing partners from the pediatric cardiac surgery department at St Nicholas Children’s Hospital and of course the indispensable Zoryana Ivaniuk from the hospital´s management. I’m often asked what 4-Ukraine actually does there. Together with Ukrainian experts, we strive to ensure sustainability in humanitarian aid. Even the most generous investments require forward-looking needs planning for consumables and spare parts, induction and training, as well as adequate warranty and maintenance contracts, if they are to be more than just a flash in the pan. And such planning can only succeed with the necessary medical and technical expertise and by taking local circumstances into account. If critical parts are completely unavailable in Ukraine, or if projects cannot be sustainably funded locall in the long run, they are of little use to patients. We are delighted that, since 2022, alongside our wonderful Ukrainian colleagues, we have been able to take a lot of steps in the right direction .