A regional emergency medical team in Lviv has become the first in the world to earn WHO verification for specializing in medical evacuation. The team, based at the Lviv Regional Centre for Emergency Medical Care and Disaster Medicine, has already helped move more than 2,800 patients. Through the broader programme, over 7,200 patients have received treatment abroad.
A Verification With Global Reach
The WHO designation, announced on 10 October, marks the first time any emergency medical team has been verified specifically for evacuation work. The Lviv centre's role goes beyond local response: it has directly supported patient transfers and contributed to a programme that has sent thousands of Ukrainians to hospitals outside the country.
The verification comes as Ukraine's health system continues to operate under severe strain. From 1 January to 30 October 2026, WHO verified 582 attacks on health care in Ukraine, nearly 40 percent of all verified attacks worldwide. Those attacks caused at least 266 casualties.
Warehouses Hit, Supplies Rerouted
Attacks also struck four WHO warehouse facilities, causing stock losses of more than US$1.5 million. WHO has put alternative logistics in place and is delivering directly to facilities wherever feasible.
In the first week of October, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, led a high-level mission to Ukraine with a clear message: attacks on health care must stop.
On 16 October, WHO and the Health Cluster delivered primary health care and trauma supplies to the Lyman community, about 5 km from the frontline, to support around 2,000 people remaining there.
Policy Talks and Food Data
On 6 October, the Ministry of Health and WHO convened a High-Level Policy Dialogue on the health security agenda in Ukraine, with 62 participants. The dialogue supported integrating health security into the Health System Development Strategy 2030 and formalizing a Health Security Advisory Group. The Ministry's self-assessment rates 6 of 16 core capacities as closed.
WHO presented FEEDcities results at a national policy dialogue on eliminating trans fats on 13 October. The study catalogued 1,298 products from five supermarket chains across 343 outlets and tested 100 samples. Ukraine has a legal limit on trans fats but no legal limit on salt in industrially produced foods.
Tracking Shots and Superbugs
Since March 2026, a WHO-supported national dashboard has monitored immunization coverage in near real time, down to the hromada level, and more than 100 specialists have been trained to use it. Ukraine's antimicrobial resistance surveillance network has grown from 4 laboratories in 2017 to 97 laboratories across 22 regions, with 22 new laboratories admitted on 30 October.
WHO also advanced GIS capacity building for public health professionals and brought Ukraine's health experience to the European Health Forum Gastein, where it facilitated two sessions on 1 October.
The Lviv verification places a Ukrainian team at the front of a specialized field, even as the country records the majority of the world's verified attacks on health care. Alongside the evacuation programme, the supply deliveries and laboratory growth show a health system adapting in real time.
