Attachments
HIGHLIGHTS
• The humanitarian situation in April 2024 remained dire, marked by the intensification of hostilities near the frontline and the large-scale attacks targeted at energy infrastructure and residential neighbourhoods, resulting in blackouts and civilian casualties. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) verified that at least 129 civilians were killed and 574 were injured in April 2024 alone, with the number of injured rising significantly for the second consecutive month. Double-tap strikes targeted first responders, while attacks on health facilities continued to be reported. In 2024 alone, WHO SSA has verified 110 attacks on healthcare in Ukraine, resulting in 11 deaths and 46 injuries among health care workers and patients.
• Humanitarian aid facilities were targeted in intensified attacks, hindering the delivery of critical health-care support in areas where the health system has already suffered substantial damage. On 5 April, an office of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Donetska oblast sustained heavy damage from a strike, injuring five people, as reported by UN OCHA. The NGO was compelled to temporarily suspend some of its activities in the oblast.
• Despite reduced humanitarian access in Kharkivska, Donetska, and Khersonska, health partners continued in coordinating efforts to reach an estimated 3,447 individuals with rapid humanitarian health assistance in response to the intensified attacks since 29 December 2023.
• In April 2024, the Health Cluster reviewed and published an updated Health Cluster Emergency Response and Preparedness plan, a revised update based on the initial version endorsed by the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Center for Disaster Medicine in 2023. This revised plan accounts for contextual developments and incorporates the latest information on partner capacity and preparedness to effectively support the MoH.
• On 3 April, the Ukraine Health Cluster, Ministry of Social Policy, MoH and Ukrainian Public Health Center jointly organized a Q&A session with health partners to discuss the new legislation related to the importation of commodities as humanitarian aid in Ukraine, which became effective on 1 April.