In December, UNFPA Ukraine procured and delivered 1,700 sanitary kits for female medical staff working with COVID-19 patients. The kits were distributed among 98 health care facilities providing inpatient care to COVID-19 patients, located in 6 Oblasts of Ukraine with the highest COVID-19 incidence rates per 100 thousand population.

“In December, we procured 1,700 sanitary kits at a cost of $ 150,000 for female medical staff in six Oblasts of Ukraine. In particular, 280 kits were delivered to each inpatient hospital in Kyiv City, Chernihiv, Sumy, Ivano-Frankivsk and Odesa Oblasts, as well as 300 kits for Chernivtsi Oblast”, said Bohdan Pidverbetsky, UNFPA Reproductive Health Coordinator.

In April, at the beginning of the pandemic, UNFPA conducted a survey of staff of infectious disease and intensive care units in COVID-19 “first-wave” health care facilities and identified the need of female medical staff in sanitary and other products in the context of prolonged use of personal protective equipment and contact with disinfectants. Based on survey results, UNFPA formed Women’s Sanitary Kits for medical staff working with COVID-19 patients.

The first batch of kits was procured in August 2020, at a cost of $ 24,000. Thus, 240 kits for female medical staff were delivered to hospitals in Kyiv City and 5 Oblasts of Ukraine – Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne and Kyiv.

Sanitary kits include all the products necessary to maintain the continuous work of female medical staff in the inpatient hospitals for 5 days: hand and face creams, deodorant, medical slippers, toothpaste and toothbrush, 5 T-shirts, 5 pairs of socks, towels, feminine hygiene products, laundry detergent, boot covers, etc.

The procurement of kits was funded by UNFPA with financial support of donors, in particular, Germany.