The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation will Take Part in All-Ukrainian COVID-19 Forum

A Forum “Ukraine 30. Coronavirus: Challenges and Responses” organized by the Office of the President of Ukraine with support of the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will be held in Kyiv from February 8 to 10 2021. One of the participants in the dialogue on the pandemic and overcoming its consequences will be the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

'The coronavirus pandemic has become a serious challenge for the public healthcare sector. Hub hospitals, especially those in the regions, were in dire need of modern equipment, protective medical clothing and testing systems. To help the country quickly close major healthcare gaps, Rinat Akhmetov allocated more than UAH 300 million to the fight against the coronavirus. Back in February 2020, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation launched the project Fighting Covid-19 in Ukraine. Within its framework, the Foundation managed to purchase and donate to public hospitals more than 1,000 units of medical and laboratory equipment in all regions of the country. The key element of the project assistance was the donation of over 200 lung ventilators. In addition, the Foundation provided doctors of the hub hospitals with 337,000 rapid COVID-19 tests and more than 200,000 units of personal protective equipment and consumables. Each item from the list of medical needs was purchased in conditions of fierce competition, but the Foundation coped with the task set by its Founder and was able to support doctors who save the lives and health of Ukrainian citizens. The Foundation has gained extensive experience and acquired some unique expertise. We received an invitation from the Office of the President of Ukraine to take part in the forum where we are going to tell the audience how the project Fighting Covid-19 in Ukraine changed Ukrainian healthcare and in just a year was able to become the largest, wide-scale and systematic private initiative in the fight against the coronavirus,' said Natalya Yemchenko, a member of the Supervisory Board of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

The Forum “Ukraine 30. Coronavirus: Challenges and Responses” is held with the participation of the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, members of the government, People's Deputies of Ukraine, leading economists and healthcare experts of the country. The event was opened by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

'It is clear that COVID-19, unfortunately, drastically redesigned our life. However, do we agree that this is so for good? How can we emerge victorious from this unusual battle? Will a large-scale vaccination campaign be able to change the situation and return freedom to humanity – the freedom to travel, communicate and hug relatives? It is obvious that both the pandemic itself and the vaccination as one of the mandatory elements for the formation of herd immunity are not an easy task for every country and for Ukraine in particular. There are a lot of challenges and issues. All of them are worth a meaningful conversation, an active public dialogue,’ wrote the President in his Telegram channel.

At the Forum, the Ukrainian government will speak about its 2021 plans to combat the pandemic. These include measures to restore the economy, and the organization of a mass vaccination campaign, as well as assistance to vulnerable groups of the population. Separate sections of the Forum will be dedicated to the adaptation of education and cooperation with international financial organizations.

The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation is preparing to take part in the "Regions against the Virus" discussion panel.

'For almost a year now, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation has been helping the country in the fight against the coronavirus. This is not only the supply of equipment needed for doctors, but also numerous projects in the field of distance learning. We trained doctors how to work with the most modern lung ventilators and organized two webinars where 2,000 doctors learned about the latest methods of treating the coronavirus from the country's leading experts. For children staying in quarantine, we launched the project Digital Physical Education that collected almost two million views. The Foundation also launched the project Ask the Doctor and now anyone can ask the most reputable doctors a question on the air. We will share our experience in creating educational projects,' added Natalya Yemchenko.