The Peruvian doctor who is mission in Ukraine and coordinates access to health near the War Front

Today Saavedra43, she is coordinator for Latin America of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) And kyiv arrived to focus on the three projects that the NGO carries out in locations that are very close to the War Front line.

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Specialized in general medicine, Saavedra He studied the career and made a mastery in public health at the Jorge Basadre Grohmann National University, from Tacna.

In dialogue with this newspaper from the Ukrainian capital, it says that one of the activities that made him learn what medicine is boarding school at the Archbishop Lima Hospital in Lima. It also indicates that his rural service did it in the jungle of Peru, in the Poblado Nuevo Tarapoto Center, San Martín region.

–Since when are you in Ukraine, specifically in which city?

I am now in the capital, kyiv, where I arrived just over a month ago.

–What is the specific work you perform in Ukraine?

I am in the position of Coordinator of all medical activities in the country. In Ukraine we have three projects in different cities, which are closer to the War Front line. The coordination team has its base in kyiv. From here we see and support the teams that are in the projects, which are those who are working directly with the patients. But as a medical coordinator I must travel from time to time and spend some time with the teams. I must follow the activities to see what is the best way they can support them.

–What are these doctors without borders projects?

We work with people who have been affected by war. For example, we have mobile clinics where we meet patients who do not have access to the health system, because although the Ukraine Ministry of Health has made many efforts to be able to meet the needs, it is not enough, it is very difficult to reach everyone. There are many people who travel from one place to another, but there are also others who cannot move. In the case of the elderly, many of them have chronic diseases and stay in their places, where there is no longer a health post, doctors are not, they left the peoples and small cities. So, we go with medication for chronic diseases, we take mobile clinics. We also do attention with multidisciplinary team of medicine, nursing, psychologists, health promotion.

We have another project related to the consequences of war. This is the Early rehabilitation. There are many people who have been on the front line, either fighting or because they live near the conflict area, have been injured and have to be immediately served. Several of them remain with disabilities for some amputation or for some traumatic damage. They need early rehabilitation, because if the person does not have adequate movement or physiotherapy at the beginning of recovery, there may be consequences and run out of mobility in some joints.

We are attending to patients who come directly from the border line, who enter the operating room and when they leave they have to start early rehabilitation. Subsequently they are referred to a longer term rehabilitation.

Another of the topics that is super important, which is also accompanied by mobile clinics for early rehabilitation, is the Mental health. We have a team that attends the psychological trauma that these people who are in the war line live. Also the population on foot suffers these consequences, being listening to the bombings and shooting all the time. We offer psychological support and mental health sessions.

–Ukraine has been at war for three years. What magnitude is the humanitarian crisis that the country lives and what are the greatest needs in the issue of health?

I would like to clarify that three years ago there is what we call an escalation of the war, but it began in 2014. My first mission here in Ukraine was in 2015and I was also in the projects, but much closer to the front line. As for current needs, I must say that access to health has decreased a lot because some positions and even hospitals have been bombarded, they no longer exist. Health professionals are not in those cities either. So, we see that there is a need to provide access to populations that still remain in these places. We offer practically primary health.

–Then hospitals and medical infrastructure are not free of being target of attacks …

That’s right, some health positions and residential places have been bombed and destroyed.

–Has it happened to doctors without borders in the areas where projects carry out?

A few years ago, just when the war climbed, there was a bombing for the hospital of Pokrovskwe were working in the area and our activities were affected.

–Have you witnessed any attack in the geographical area in which you have been? How do they protect themselves?

The war line is wide. What I saw when I have visited some projects is that there are places where one can take refuge at the time of explosions or shooting. Normally, they are underground places, such as Bunkers, where one is saved in case there is a stronger attack. We as doctors without borders also have our security protocols that indicate what to do in case of attacks. And yes, I have testified, I have heard shots, explosions, bombings in some of the places where we are, and we immediately launch the security protocol.

–The international community, multinational organizations, how are they supporting this health issue in Ukraine?

There are organizations working in different areas, both in physical and mental health. There are even meetings called the Health Cluster, which is the union of health organizations, where it is conversed on the activities that are being done in the country.