A new medical aid center for refugees has been established

The Center for Medical Services (CUM) for Refugees was established as a result of cooperation between the Military Medical Institute - National Research Institute and doctors of the Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Jordan. The center is a pilot program aimed at defining the conditions under which medical care should be provided to those fleeing the terror of the war in Ukraine. The CUM was established in cooperation between the Military Medical Institute - PIB and doctors of the Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Jordan.

The Center's mission is to provide medical care to refugees reaching our country. The scope of care includes not only the day-to-day medical needs of Ukrainian patients, but also preventive care and anti-epidemic protection.

– Pomysł realizacji programu badań diagnostycznych dla uchodźców z Ukrainy, – To efekt obserwacji i przemyśleń dotyczących wczesnego okresu masowej imigracji, z jaką mieliśmy do czynienia w pierwszych tygodniach agresji Rosji na Ukrainę. Skala zjawisk, jakie wówczas obserwowaliśmy, ich gwałtowność oraz chaos i poczucie niepewności spowodowane m.in. brakiem wiedzy na temat stanu zdrowia i wynikających z tego potrzeb populacji przekraczającej granicę, to najważniejsze przyczyny, które ostatecznie zainspirowały nas do rozpoczęcia prac nad wspomnianym projektem. Z dzisiejszej perspektywy widać wyraźnie, że wymagania zdrowotne imigrantów ewoluowały wraz z czasem ich pobytu w Polsce. Na początku były to potrzeby czysto opiekuńcze z dominującą w odbiorze usług pierwszą pomocą medyczną. W dalszych etapach obserwowaliśmy stabilizację oczekiwań na poziomie odpowiadającym populacji kraju gospodarza. Dlatego też doszliśmy do wniosku, że w przyszłości nasza – państwa – odpowiedź na tego rodzaju zdarzenia od początku powinna mieć charakter strukturalny, systemowy – skalowany do bieżących potrzeb. Pozwalający efektywnie angażować niezbędne zasoby, eliminować zacięcia wynikające z ograniczeń w dostępie do świadczeń opieki zdrowotnej, spowodowane m.in. nieadekwatną, niedostosowaną do dających przewidzieć się okoliczności, często nadmiarową, mobilizacją potencjału obszaru zdrowia i opieki – podkreśla dyrektor WIM-PIB gen. broni prof. dr hab. n. med. Grzegorz Gielerak.

Reasons for launching the program

There are many reasons for this. The main one is the situation beyond our eastern border and the risks and dangers associated with it, but also the challenges, the most important of which involves the increased migration of people experiencing the trauma of war, in every - medical, social, economic - sense of the phrase. Our goal is that the extremely noble, globally acclaimed actions of Poles that are a "reflex of the heart" should be supported by systemic solutions. Actions that guarantee the provision of medical care to a degree and extent adequate to the current needs of immigrants. At the same time limiting, through the rationalization of requirements and capabilities, the need to engage additional material, human and financial resources. Ensuring the maintenance of the quality and availability of health care services in Poland, while striving to improve the cost-effectiveness of the medical security system of the early stage of mass migration.

Effects of program implementation

After the stage of identification of material and equipment needs, method and conditions of organization of services and their financing is completed, the solution will be disseminated in selected - meeting the requirements established during the pilot - Medical Assistance Centers. The number and distribution of the above-mentioned units on the map of the country will be determined on the basis of the estimated defined health needs of refugees.

Using the participation of a foreign partner in the project, we will also strive to internationalize the results obtained. There is no doubt that any knowledge, experience in the field of methods and ways of organization, adaptation of national health care systems to an emergency situation, such as a massive influx of immigrants from territories of armed conflict, is an added value for both those seeking help and the host country. Therefore, defining the priority needs of immigrants defining the minimum requirements for standards of medical care, creates the conditions for proposing a structured model for securing the population, the scale and scope of which will be appropriate to the circumstances, while rationalizing the degree of involvement and use of resources and capacities at the disposal of the health care system of the assisting state. In our opinion, the solutions developed will be universal in nature, which means that they can be successfully applied by states, but also by international organizations, such as the WHO and the UN, actively participating in countering the effects of migration crises.

Source: WIM