Healthcare facilities must be protected, even in war
No mesmo dia em que a Rússia lançou a sua ofensiva militar contra a Ucrânia, a Organização Mundial da Saúde respondeu com a única ferramenta imediata ao seu alcance: dinheiro e compromisso. O diretor-geral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesuas libertou 3,5 milhões de dólares do fundo de contingência da organização para aquisição urgente de material médico, reconhecendo que a guerra não suspende as doenças crónicas, a fragilidade mental nem a vulnerabilidade dos mais velhos e dos migrantes. É um gesto que coloca a saúde no centro do que significa proteger civis em tempo de conflito.
- Com pelo menos 50 mortos nas primeiras horas da invasão russa, o sistema de saúde ucraniano foi subitamente confrontado com as exigências simultâneas da guerra e das necessidades médicas quotidianas.
- A OMS teme que hospitais, trabalhadores de saúde e rotas de abastecimento se tornem alvos — e comprometeu-se a documentar formalmente qualquer ataque a infraestruturas médicas.
- Os 3,5 milhões de dólares libertados são apresentados como ponto de partida, não como resposta definitiva, com avaliações adicionais e apoio humanitário suplementar já previstos.
- O acesso seguro e contínuo para entrega de ajuda humanitária é identificado como a condição sem a qual qualquer financiamento se torna inútil num país sob assalto militar.
Nas primeiras horas da invasão russa da Ucrânia, a Organização Mundial da Saúde agiu com rapidez. O diretor-geral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesuas anunciou a libertação de 3,5 milhões de dólares do fundo de contingência da organização, destinados à compra e entrega urgente de material médico às unidades de saúde ucranianas. O momento era grave: forças russas já tinham atravessado a fronteira, cidades eram bombardeadas, e pelo menos cinquenta pessoas tinham morrido, dez delas civis.
Ghebreyesuas deixou claro que os fundos eram um começo, não uma solução completa. A OMS esperava avaliar a extensão total dos danos nos dias seguintes e preparava-se para mobilizar apoio humanitário adicional. O que mais preocupava o diretor-geral era a possibilidade de o sistema de saúde ucraniano colapsar sob pressão — não apenas pela afluência de feridos de guerra, mas porque as doenças crónicas não param em tempo de conflito. Doentes com COVID-19, cancro, diabetes e tuberculose continuavam a precisar de cuidados. Os serviços de saúde mental, já frágeis, enfrentariam uma procura crescente. Os idosos e os migrantes tornar-se-iam ainda mais vulneráveis.
A OMS apelou a todas as partes para que protegessem instalações médicas, trabalhadores de saúde e rotas de abastecimento, e comprometeu-se a registar formalmente qualquer ataque ao sistema de saúde. Ghebreyesuas sublinhou ainda a necessidade de acesso seguro e contínuo para os trabalhadores humanitários — porque sem ele, o dinheiro, por si só, não chegaria a quem mais precisava.
The World Health Organization moved swiftly on the morning Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, releasing emergency funds to shore up a healthcare system suddenly facing the demands of war. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesuas announced the deployment of $3.5 million from the organization's contingency reserve, money earmarked immediately for the purchase and delivery of critical medical supplies to Ukrainian health facilities.
The timing was stark. Hours earlier, Russian forces had crossed into Ukrainian territory with ground troops and airstrikes targeting cities across the country. By the time Ghebreyesuas issued his statement, at least fifty people had been killed, ten of them civilians, according to Ukrainian authorities. The offensive was already reshaping the landscape of need.
Ghebreyesuas framed the funding as a foundation, not a ceiling. He signaled that the WHO expected to assess the full scope of damage and displacement in the coming days, and that additional humanitarian health support would likely follow. The immediate allocation, he said, would complement trauma supplies and medical equipment already being directed to health units on the ground.
What concerned the WHO director-general most was the prospect of a healthcare system buckling under pressure. Ukraine's medical infrastructure had to keep functioning—not just for war wounds, but for the ordinary crises that don't pause for conflict. Patients with COVID-19 still needed treatment. People managing diabetes, cancer, and tuberculosis couldn't simply stop. Mental health services, already fragile, would face surging demand. The elderly and migrant populations, already vulnerable, would become more so.
Ghebreyesuas issued a direct appeal to all parties in the conflict: healthcare facilities, medical workers, patients, supply lines, and transport routes must be protected. He committed the WHO to documenting any attacks on the health system—a formal record-keeping role that underscored the organization's fear about what was coming. The organization had worked with Ukrainian health authorities for decades, Ghebreyesuas noted, and understood both the strengths and fragilities of the system they were now trying to sustain.
He also called for something harder to guarantee in wartime: sustained and safe access for humanitarian workers to deliver aid. Without it, money alone would mean nothing. The funds were a signal of commitment and a practical tool, but they depended on the ability to move supplies through a country now under military assault. Russian President Vladimir Putin had framed the invasion as a defensive operation aimed at demilitarizing and denazifying Ukraine—a justification rejected by most of the international community. The WHO's response was quieter but no less pointed: the organization would be watching, documenting, and continuing to work for the people caught in the middle.
Citas Notables
The healthcare system in Ukraine must continue to function to provide essential care, especially for vulnerable groups like the elderly and migrants.— WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesuas
The WHO will monitor and report attacks on health facilities, workers, and patients as part of its role in documenting incidents affecting healthcare.— WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesuas
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did the WHO move so quickly with this funding? Was three and a half million dollars enough?
It wasn't about sufficiency—it was about signal and speed. The money came from a contingency fund designed for exactly this kind of shock. But you're right to question the amount. Ghebreyesuas himself suggested more would come once they assessed the actual damage.
What was he most worried about, reading between the lines?
That the healthcare system would collapse under the weight of both war and ordinary illness. Ukraine still has diabetics, cancer patients, people with tuberculosis. Those don't disappear when bombs start falling. He was trying to prevent a double catastrophe.
The part about documenting attacks on health facilities—that seemed almost ominous.
It was. He was essentially saying: we expect health infrastructure to be targeted, and we're going to keep a record. That's not optimistic language. That's preparation for something darker.
Did the WHO have leverage to actually protect those facilities?
Not really. They could appeal, document, report—but enforcement depends on the parties respecting international law. The WHO's real power was in maintaining the principle that healthcare should be off-limits, even in war. Whether that principle held was another question entirely.
What about the vulnerable populations he mentioned—elderly, migrants?
In a conflict, those groups always suffer first and worst. They have fewer resources, less mobility, less access to information. The WHO was essentially saying: these people will need us most, and we need to make sure the system doesn't abandon them.