But as more than half a million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, global health officials fear that Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine will be the latest reminder of a grim lesson \u2014 that war and disease are close companions, and the humanitarian and refugee crises now unfolding in Eastern Europe will lead to long-lasting health consequences, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n
As Russia\u2019s military campaign accelerates, Ukraine\u2019s hospitals are running out of critical medical supplies as travel is increasingly choked off by the conflict. The country\u2019s health workers and patients are relocating to makeshift shelters, seeking to escape explosions. Meanwhile, officials at the World Health Organization, United Nations, U.S. State Department and other organizations warn of rising civilian casualties and new pressures on the region\u2019s fragile health-care systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re dealing with now in Ukraine is a double crisis,\u201d said M\u00e1ire Connolly, a global health professor at the National University of Ireland Galway who has studied the link between conflict and disease. In an interview, Connolly said she was worried not just about threats from the coronavirus pandemic but also those from Ukraine\u2019s polio outbreak, which global experts had sought to quell for months. She also said she fears the potential resurgence of tuberculosis during the current conflict.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n – Ukraine\u2019s hospitals are running out of critical supplies A look at war + disease, twin companions.<\/p>\n With @LovedayM<\/a>, reporting from Lviv, Ukraine.https:\/\/t.co\/sQ513ea3V9<\/a><\/p>\n — Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) March 1, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n
– Health workers, patients being forced to makeshift shelters
– Global experts fear covid, polio spikes<\/p>\n