Nordic donors plan online clinic to treat Ukrainian children's war traumas
14/03/2024 11:10
By Anne Kauranen
HELSINKI, March 14 (Reuters) - A group of Nordic donors
has raised nearly one million euros to treat Ukrainian children
traumatised by war, initially in an online clinic which they
hope to turn into a new children's hospital to be built in
Ukraine if more donors join in.
Nearly two thirds of Ukraine's children have been forced to
flee their homes following Russia's invasion of Ukraine more
than two years ago. The United Nations warned in January that
some 1.5 million children were at risk of suffering
post-traumatic stress and other mental health conditions.
The Nordic donors have set up a foundation called Nadiya,
meaning 'hope' in Ukrainian, which aims to collect 150 million
euros ($164 million) in donations to build a hospital and trauma
research unit in Ukraine. They have so far raised 900,000 euros.
"To ensure immediate help gets to Ukraine, the hospital will
first be opened digitally," they said in a statement on
Thursday. "Digitalization allows for the utilization of new
technologies, such as virtual reality, in the treatment of war
trauma."
The donors, led by former Finnish government minister and
business executive Anne Berner, said Finland could draw on its
own historical experience of war traumas.
"We have seen what happens when untreated traumas are passed
down from one generation to another," Berner said in the
statement.
Finland fought back an invasion attempt by the Soviet Union
during World War Two, which medical experts have said led to
multi-generational mental health issues and alcoholism after the
hostilities ended.
The donors include Finland's Deaconess Foundation, game
maker Supercell founders Ilkka Paananen's and Mikko Kodisoja's
foundations, Swedish Medicover Foundation, Norwegian Andresen
family's investment company Ferd and Danish IT firm Netcompany.
($1 = 0.9142 euros)
(Reporting by Anne Kauranen
Editing by Gareth Jones)
((anne.kauranen@thomsonreuters.com; +358401895560;))