A new scheme has been launched that provides e-bikes to help nurses visit patients in war-torn areas of Ukraine.
Global nursing organisation the International Council of Nurses (ICN) and Project Kesher Ukraine, a US Jewish women’s charity, are collaborating with Ukrainian health providers on the pilot scheme.
“The e-bikes will improve access to care for thousands of families in the Donetsk region of Ukraine”
Pamela Cipriano
The first wave of the scheme, funded by the ICN’s Nurses For Peace programme, has allowed for the purchase of 10 e-bikes.
These bikes have then been supplied to nurses working in Donetsk Oblast, Eastern Ukraine, to allow them to traverse the difficult terrain of the region and visit patients.
The majority of the Donetsk region, including Donetsk city itself, has been occupied by Russian military forces since the second half of 2022, a matter of months after war broke out. It was an area of intense conflict in the early stages of the war.
The ICN and Project Kesher Ukraine said travel in the region was “difficult” and that the e-bikes would mean patients who might miss out on care could be seen by nurses.
Dr Pamela Cipriano, the ICN’s president, said the scheme was a “fundamental” way to improve nursing care in Ukraine, which has been devastated by the war since February 2022.
“The ICN values its partnership with Project Kesher Ukraine and we expect the e-bikes will improve access to care for thousands of families in the Donetsk region of Ukraine,” she said.
“The ICN remains totally committed to supporting Ukrainian nurses during these challenging times and we are open to explore future opportunities for collaboration,” she added.
This latest effort is part of a wider scheme across various areas of Ukraine where fighting has damaged infrastructure.
According to the two organisations, e-bikes donated to nurses are being used to visit around 11,500 patients per month in four parts of the region, including Kramatorsk, a city in northern Donetsk Oblast.
Project Kesher Ukraine said e-bikes were “especially valuable” in Kramatorsk due to the city’s status at the edge of ongoing combat zones. It said the medical centre in that area was a “lifeline” for residents over a large landmass.
Fuel and other resource shortages in the area, Project Kesher added, meant the e-bikes were the only way some nurses and paramedics could reach patients in crisis.
The ICN’s Nurses For Peace scheme has funded several humanitarian schemes in Ukraine since the outbreak of the country’s war with Russia, when the latter invaded.
The ICN, which represents over 130 nursing organisations around the world, has repeatedly called for a ceasefire, negotiations between the states and for a “lasting peace”.