According to the health secretary, a delegation of Ukrainian youngsters has arrived in the UK to get life-saving cancer treatment on the NHS.
Sajid Javid stated that the 21 youngsters will receive the finest treatment available in hospitals around the country. Following a request from Polish officials, the children and their close family members came on an emergency aircraft organized by the government on Sunday. They will be evaluated by doctors before being sent to the proper facilities.
“I am proud that the UK is offering life-saving medical care to these Ukrainian children, who have been forced out of their home country by the Russian invasion while undergoing medical treatment,” Mr Javid said.
Southampton Youngsters’s Hospital sent nine doctors to Poland to pick up the children.
“The families were so incredibly grateful,” the hospital claimed, “and the stories they told were horrific.”
The government will lay out the specifics of a system that would allow people in the UK to welcome Ukrainian refugees into their homes later – but particular provisions have been prepared for the group that need immediate care.
Hundreds of Ukrainians have had their medical care disrupted as Russian soldiers lay siege to towns and hospital supplies run low.
Many children have been transferred to Poland, where officials have requested assistance in caring for them.
According to one paediatric oncologist in Poland, the majority of the youngsters that arrived at her facility were in a life-threatening condition.
Those arriving in the UK would be assessed to determine their unique health requirements before being treated at a suitable NHS facility, according to the Department of Health.
It went on to say that the UK has already provided over 650,000 medical supplies to Ukraine as part of its humanitarian response to the situation.
Mr Javid told BBC Breakfast that seven flights from the UK had delivered help to Ukraine, including wound care kits, urgent care equipment, and crucial medications. He claimed that an eighth plane took off on Monday morning.
NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard stated that the NHS will continue to collaborate with politicians in order to offer both the essential supplies as well as the “crucial treatment” that the children require.
“Colleagues at paediatric hospitals around the country have gone above and beyond to help these children during their greatest hour of need,” she added.