Neonatal intensive care unit in Kharkov. WHO helps Ukrainian hospitals cope with interruptions in heating and water supply Humanitarian assistance
In 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) installed modular heat and water treatment systems in 11 hospitals in Ukraine. This infrastructure will allow medical institutions to continue providing assistance to the population in the face of constant threats safety.
Hospitals depend on utilities to operate: electricity is necessary for diagnosis and surgical operations, water supply is to prevent infections and ensure proper sanitation, heating to protect human health and the functioning of medical equipment.
Exit from the construction of these systems leads to a decrease in the ability of hospitals to receive patients. This could put the lives of thousands of people in immediate danger.
Autonomous systems
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the WHO has confirmed 2,762 attacks on the Ukrainian healthcare system. The country’s populated areas suffer from incessant attacks on civilian and social infrastructure.
With financial support from the European Union, WHO delivered six modular heating systems to the Zaporozhye and Chernivtsi regions, where about 1.7 million people live, including internally displaced persons.
Modular heating systems have a number of important advantages in wartime: they operate independently from heating networks, can be quickly installed, and can also be used with various types of fuel. They allow you to maintain a constant temperature in the room, and most importantly, protect patients, staff and medical equipment from the cold.
Clean water
WHO has also placed five water treatment plants in large hospitals in Kharkov and medical institutions in the Kharkov region. The systems are designed to operate autonomously outside centralized utilities. This will provide millions of people with access to uninterrupted medical care. starting with mechanical filtration and disinfection. Additional methods may be used to achieve maximum water purity. This is especially important for surgery, maternity wards and other departments providing emergency and intensive care.