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Financing the health needs of Ukrainian refugees

Nature Medicine volume 28, pages 1736–1737 (2022)Cite this article

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To the Editor — The past decade has seen an increase in displaced populations owing to conflict, violence and climate change. The war in Ukraine has exacerbated the world refugee profile by adding 6.8 million refugees from 24 February to May 20221. This number continues to rise as Ukrainian refugees flee to neighboring countries. Financing health services for such a large flow of refugees poses a great challenge to international communities and host countries.

Given the massive influx of Ukrainian refugees, mobilizing financial resources requires host countries and international donors to promptly approve and allocate resources toward health services for refugees. In March 2022, the Polish government passed a draft bill to create a $1.75 billion fund to support Ukrainian refugees2. Meanwhile, the World Bank approved a budget of $700 million through multiple channels such as loans, grants and guarantees to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine with a fast disbursement3. Such actions at the national and international levels provide important resources for delivering health services to Ukrainian refugees.

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References

  1. UNHCR. https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine (2022).

  2. Strzelecki, M. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/poland-set-up-175-bln-fund-help-ukrainian-refugees-2022-03-07/ (2022).

  3. The World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/03/07/world-bank-mobilizes-an-emergency-financing-package-of-over-700-million-for-ukraine (2022).

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Acknowledgements

The author is indebted to D. Bajnauth at Georgetown University for her editorial assistance.

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  1. Department of Global Health, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

    Wu Zeng

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  1. Wu Zeng
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Correspondence to Wu Zeng.

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Zeng, W. Financing the health needs of Ukrainian refugees. Nat Med 28, 1736–1737 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01912-1

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