In October 2022, the Ukrainian Academy of Pediatric Specialties (UAPS) applied for grant assistance to children’s hospitals of Ukraine from the European Academy of Pediatrics (EAP). Lots of people made their donations for Ukrainian children through EAP website.

The St Nicholas Hospital for Children in Lviv was one of three hospitals that received a humanitarian grant for the purchase of medical equipment in the amount of 10,000 euros. Since the beginning of the war, this emergency and intensive care hospital has become a central medical institution for providing care to patients from all over Ukraine.

“Our hospital makes all possible to provide medical care to children with multiply pathology from different parts of the country who have found temporary shelter in the Western regions of Ukraine. We have possibilities for pediatric cardiac surgery, pediatric minimally invasive reconstructive surgery, complete physical rehabilitation, for treating pediatric patients with oncology etc.”, – says the head of the department of pediatric oncology, hematology, and immunology Mykhailo Adyrov. Before the war, Mykhailo headed the hematological oncology service at the Mykolaiv Regional Children’s Hospital. From the first days of the war, the Mykolayiv region was in the middle of the action. The children’s hospital was reoriented to the treatment of children who became victims of military aggression. Children with serious illnesses were evacuated to safer regions of Ukraine or even moved abroad for treatment.

“Many of my patients from Mykolaiv refused to leave Ukraine, despite the fact that the child had a serious illness. That’s why I realized that I could help them right here better here, in Lviv,” the doctor continues. “Every morning our multidisciplinary team meets to discuss the most difficult cases in the hospital, to define the optimal tactics for managing the patients. This often needs the involvement of many pediatric specialists: surgical team, intensive care specialists, neurosurgeons, hematologists, oncologists, transplant specialists, rehabilitation specialists etc. The increased number of patients with extremely complex combined diseases in the hospital also requires additional medical equipment as we really want to provide our children the medical care that meets world standards,” he says.

The Ukrainian Academy of Pediatric Specialties also provided humanitarian aid in the amount of UAH 99,765 to help the hospital. That was exactly this amount that needed to be added to the EAP grant, so the hospital could buy equipment for cytocentrifugation of liquids (“Cytopro Elitech” made in the USA), necessary for high-quality treatment and diagnosis of malignant diseases of the central nervous system and leukemias in children.

“This equipment allows you to concentrate and transfer cerebrospinal fluid cells onto glass, some cells may be malignant. The presence of malignant tumors in the cerebrospinal fluid significantly affects the prognosis of the child’s disease, the risk stratification and the choice of further therapeutic tactics. With this device, the chance of detecting malignant tumors is approximately 100 times higher than when using common diagnostic methods. That is, many more children will be able to receive the CNS-directed treatment they need in time,” said Mykhailo Adyrov.

There are 14 children with various oncological and oncohematological diseases are being treated in the department of pediatric oncology, hematology, and immunology of St. Nicholas Hospital at the moment. They are mainly from the Eastern and Southern regions of Ukraine (Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Odesa), as well as from other regions (Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv). Due to the joint efforts of two powerful Associations of children’s doctors – the European Academy of Pediatrics and the Ukrainian Academy of Pediatric Specialties – these children and future patients of this department have a better chance of recovery and normal life.