We are launching a series of interviews with members of the Ukrainian Association of Ambulatory Physicians, in which we will talk about how their lives have changed since the beginning of the full-scale war. These stories deserve your attention and respect!

The first person to talk to us was a doctor-immunologist of the highest category, hematologist, candidate of medical sciences, associate professor of Department of internal medicine №1, clinical immunology and allergology. E.M. Neyko of Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University – Halyna Kuryliv.

– Tell us how your life has changed since the beginning of the full-scale war in our country?

To be honest, my life changed dramatically because my husband volunteered for the war and I immediately started volunteering. In general, I had experience since 2014, so I knew what to do.Since my husband's military unit had almost no medicine, I started looking for it first. When everything was staffed, I switched to other areas of volunteering. Now I try to help the military in Kharkiv and Mykolayiv as much as possible. Most of all, of course, I help with the provision of medicines, but there are also requests for food, clothes, sleeping bags and more. So I look for everything they ask for.

Last week I received a phone call from the head of our maternity hospital asking for help to find tranexamic acid, hemostatics and gauze. As a result, I asked some people a little, others a little, so they collected.

At the moment, we have a huge problem with medicines. They simply do not exist in pharmacies, so they are forced to go to Poland to buy. But even there everything is quite sad, because the Poles have already sent to Ukraine almost everything they had. That is why sometimes we help not only the military but also the civilians.

– Where do you get these things? Maybe you are asking for help from volunteer organizations?

From the very beginning, the funds for the purchase of necessary things were personally mine, my friends and colleagues from the department. A little later, I met with volunteers and various organizations that attract help from abroad, so now I turn to them.

– What about your professional activity as a doctor? How has this aspect of your life changed?

There are a lot of immigrants in our practice now. For example, just this Monday I had a woman who came from Mariupol for a consultation at the oncology center. Of course, when I talked to her, it was hard to hold back tears, because you understand what these people went through. In our hospital, all assistance is provided free of charge. Even if the person has a referral to a doctor. To be honest, what referral can they have if they have barely saved their own lives?

Also now, unfortunately, there is a mass exacerbation of chronic diseases. And all this because of stress. Therefore, we work hard to help as many compatriots as possible.

In addition, I am registered as a volunteer in the medical community “Turbota", where more than 2,500 doctors consult for free online.

– Please tell, did you have to work with the military?

There was no such thing as military patients coming directly to me. But I give private advice to my friends and colleagues. For example, recently there was a guy who developed allergic dermatitis to the sun. I consulted him by phone and, thank God, with a positive effect.

– Please tell, what is the situation with migrants in your city?

As Ivano-Frankivsk is a small town with a population of only 250,000 people, the influx of refugees is very noticeable. These people live in different ways – with relatives, friends, schools, boarding schools, colleges. If it is possible to shelter them from acquaintances, it is done. Our people are open to this. Personally, I had the experience when 7 migrants and three of their dogs lived in my house at the same time. These were our friends from Mykolayiv and the children of my fellow professor from Kharkiv.

The worst situation with the settlers was from the beginning of the war and persisted until the beginning of April. It's a little easier now, because people have either returned home or gone abroad.

– Who and how in your city provides assistance to migrants?

In general, all internally displaced persons must be officially registered with us, then the state somehow helps them. There are also several compensation programs for locals who hire or resettle migrants. Ordinary people carry everything else on their shoulders. They bring clothes, cook food for those who need it.

For example, recently I had a case when friends-volunteers on the way from Lviv stopped by the small village of Fraga in Rohatyn district. There, the locals all made dumplings and dumplings together and asked to hand them over to the military and IDPs. They made probably 50 large buckets of food, maybe even more. We took them to the official volunteer headquarters, and they have already given food to the military and children from Severodonetsk who live in one of our boarding schools. They are fed breakfast and lunch, and for dinner, unfortunately, there are not enough funds. Therefore, such help from ordinary people was very appropriate.

– Please comment from the doctor's point of view, what is the current situation with COVID-19 in the country?

COVID-19, unfortunately, has not disappeared. Yes, now for Ukrainians this issue has lost its relevance due to more serious problems, but the disease has not disappeared. Especially in China and the DPRK, new outbreaks are being recorded. So I want to emphasize that everyone who has not yet received a booster dose should do so, especially since there is a vaccine in the regions. I believe that we need to take care of our health even in such difficult times for our country.

The team of the Ukrainian Association of Ambulatory Physicians is grateful to Halyna Kuryliv for such a candid interview. Thank you for your dedicated work! And we continue to work on a series of conversations with our colleagues so that as many people as possible learn about their routine heroism. Updates will be later.