UPDATE – WHO says 108 attacks on Ukraine health facilities verified since war started

UPDATES WITH CIVILIAN DEATH TOLL; CHANGES HEADLINE, LEAD; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) – The World Health Organization on Tuesday said it has verified 108 attacks on healthcare facilities and staff in Ukraine since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war late February.

The attacks on health facilities include hospitals, personnel, transport, supplies, and warehouses, according to the WHO.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHR) raised the civilian death toll in the country to 1,892, including 71 children, and injuries to 2,558.

Most of the civilian casualties were caused by explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, and missile and airstrikes, said the UN rights office.

"OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed," it explained.

The UN office said it noted a report of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine which has recorded the deaths of 186 children and at least 344 injuries since Russia attacked its neighbor.

- WHO Europe

Bhanu Bhatnagar from WHO Europe spoke from Lviv near the Polish border at a UN news conference.

"The situation is already really bad and challenging. There are hospitals without power; there is a lack of medical supplies. And there is a lack of medicines to treat chronic diseases right across the country," he said.

At least 73 people have died and 51 others wounded in the attacks.

"We continue to condemn in the strongest possible terms all attacks on healthcare, which not only deprive people of vital health services but are also a violation of international humanitarian law," said Bhatnagar.

The WHO also said over the coming days, it would provide 15 generators to hospitals across Ukraine with limited or no power supply in areas in the north, east and south.

"We have set aside two generators for hospitals in Mariupol for delivery as soon as we can get in," said the WHO official, referring to the besieged city in Ukraine’s southeast.

- Bringing in supplies

He said that should the fighting escalate further, the health situation will worsen, so the WHO is bringing in supplies.

"And that's why we're bringing in all these supplies. But we also need the safe passage to support the health system. Because we're worried that besides the civilian casualties that might happen, there could be many more deaths resulting from lack of access to decent health."

The WHO is also supporting the transfer of patients requiring medical evacuation to the Polish border town of Korczowa, where the government has set up a health facility.

Bhatnagar said that around 300 health facilities in Ukraine are in conflict areas, and 1,000 health facilities are in "changed areas of control," leaving the health system vulnerable to infrastructural damage and severe disruptions in critical services.

"This means there is limited or no access to medicines, health facilities, and healthcare workers in some areas."