A special Council of EU Health Ministers

This afternoon, the European Union's health ministers met on-line on the current situation regarding war refugees from Ukraine. Vladimír Lengvarský colleagues in the EU reported on the current situation in Slovakia. The topics of the extraordinary meeting were:- the dimension of the health care capacity of refugees suffering from chronic and acute diseases in border states or Member States receiving refugees before the war in Ukraine, in order to ensure that these people, and in particular those with difficult health conditions, can be treated appropriately,

• resilience related to the ability of health systems in all EU Member States to withstand this new and potentially long-lasting health crisis following the COVID-19 pandemic;
• the need to develop solidarity. Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky appreciated the efforts of EU Member States in these difficult times and assured that the Slovak Republic was fully prepared to provide the people of Ukraine with maximum support and care. The priority is to protect life, ensure safety and provide health care. Refugees in need of health care are placed in the nearest medical facilities. Care is also provided in hotspots. In cooperation with the municipalities we also provide mobile emergency medical service, at the border are also permanently available rescue crews, said Minister Lengvarsky at the hearing. Minister Lengvars appreciated EU mechanisms such as: UCPM (Union Civil Protection Mechanism) or the Early Warning Response System (EWRS). However, further work is needed to coordinate EU-level action on humanitarian support and health care for refugees from Ukraine, while avoiding duplication of activities at both national and EU level. Lengvarsky warned.

Lengvarsky also pointed out that the provision of healthcare to refugees can change when our health system encounters its limits and will not prosecute due to the great strain of patients. However, it is now our priority to help people from Ukraine.

–We are aware that with thousands of refugees arriving daily in Slovakia, the burden on our health system will increase. We consider the lack of personnel, medicines and medical material to be the main challenges for the future where we will need EU support. Due to congestion in the health system, we assume that we will have to relocate some Ukrainian patients to other countries in the near future. We expect congestion in infectious, urgent and oncology departments, as well as in burn and trauma departments, Vladimír Lengvarský, the Minister of Health of the Slovak Republic, drew attention to his sectoral colleagues and asked for synergies between other EU countries in the event of our capacity being met and the question of taking patients from Ukraine in the event of such a situation occurring in my country.