Ukraine has received 70 vehicles from UNICEF to provide care to children under the Care from Birth at Home programme. The vehicles were handed over to the home health workers on April 6 in the presence of Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Minister of Health Viktor Liashko, representatives of UNICEF and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

“Today we are strengthening our healthcare workers. The medics who have a special responsibility to protect the youngest patients: infants and children under 3 years old. Indeed, our children are our future. And today these words have a special weight and meaning. With these words, women gave birth under missile attacks and doctors delivered babies. With these words, our military repel enemy attacks every day. I express my deepest respect and gratitude to our medics who, despite the shelling, missile and air strikes, save the lives and health of our people. I wish these vehicles serve for the benefit of our country and bring health to children and families,” the Prime Minister stressed.

The Head of Government also thanked the partners from UNICEF, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and donors whose donations were used to purchase the vehicles.

According to the Prime Minister, thanks to the new cars, the Government is expanding the Care from Birth at Home project to eleven regions. So far, it has been operating in only three regions: Zhytomyr, Donetsk and Kirovohrad regions.

During the handover of the vehicles, the Head of Government also presented the commendations of the Prime Minister of Ukraine to the nurses involved in the pilot project.

For reference

The 70 vehicles purchased with funds from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (with the support of individual donors from the Kingdom of the Netherlands) will be transferred to 65 primary healthcare centres in 11 regions of the country (Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnipro, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, as well as Lviv and Rivne regions) that are most affected by the hostilities and participate in the Care from Birth at Home programme.

Care from Birth at Home is a joint programme of the Ministry of Health and UNICEF, which involves the implementation of a universal and progressive model of home visits to improve the provision of medical and social assistance to families with children aged 0 to 3 years in the primary healthcare system.