INTERNATIONAL: About half a million refugees from Ukraine who have fled to Poland need support for mental health disorders, and 30,000 have severe mental health problems, the representative for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Poland has said on Tuesday ,March 22.
Refugees arriving in Poland are suffering from a range of health problems, including diarrhea and dehydration, but the main need is for support due to trauma, Paloma Cuchi, WHO representative in Poland, has told a briefing in Geneva.
UNHCR spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh has also said during the briefing that the number of Ukrainians fleeing abroad is now 3,556,924 with more than 2 million crossing the border into Poland.
"This is another tragic milestone for the people of Ukraine and it has been achieved in just under one month," Saltmarsh has said, adding that 6.5 million people had been internally displaced within Ukraine.
"You are looking at almost one quarter of the entire population. The speed and the scale of this outflow and this displacement crisis is unprecedented in recent times."
WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris has said that 62 attacks on health care have been verified in Ukraine between February 24 and March 18, resulting in 15 deaths and 37 injuries.
