As a humanitarian organisation, we are committed to the civilian population affected by military attacks<\/strong>, particularly in the areas of the self-proclaimed independent republics. The people living there already face multiple barriers to accessing health care and psychological support.<\/p>\n We are also concerned for the lives of our patients in Luhansk and Donetsk; 30% of them are over 60 years old, they suffer from chronic diseases and require constant monitoring and access to medication.<\/strong> As our mobile clinics can no longer operate, the situation is more alarming than ever.<\/p>\n For nearly eight years, Doctors of the World has been providing humanitarian assistance and direct health services to people in situations of vulnerability living along the 427 km 'contact line' between the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces in eastern Ukraine. During this period, we have provided nearly 125,000 consultations. Thanks to this work, we are very well accepted in the country and intend to continue serving the population as soon as the situation stabilises and our teams can intervene again. The protection of human lives must be the absolute priority of all political and military decisions. We continuously call on the parties to the conflict to protect civilians and civilian facilities, such as schools and hospitals, in accordance with international humanitarian law.<\/strong> Furthermore, humanitarian aid must be facilitated, and safe routes must be opened for those who need to leave Ukraine. All states considered safe countries must be open to people coming from the affected regions.<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\nEven before the military escalation of the conflict yesterday, nearly 3 million people depended on humanitarian aid to survive in Ukraine. Over 850,000 people are internally displaced. We fear these numbers will increase dramatically.<\/h2>\n