Over 1,800 Ukrainians benefit from Polish healthcare - dep minister
Almost 2,000 Ukrainian nationals are currently receiving medical care through the Polish health system, a deputy health minister said on Monday.
Waldemar Kraska told a public radio broadcaster on Monday that a special bill on aid to Ukrainian refugees, signed into law on Saturday, allows Ukrainian refugees free access to healthcare in Poland.
"As of today, over 1,800 people of Ukrainian nationality are using the Polish healthcare system," Kraska said. "Almost half of them are children."
He said that the largest number of refugees using the healthcare system are in the Podkarpackie province in the southeast of the country.
Kraska added that the situation is "quite difficult" and Poland is incurring "considerable costs."
He cited data from the National Health Fund, indicating the monthly cost of health services and prescription reimbursement per one million refugees at around PLN 200 million (EUR 42 mln).
"I cannot imagine that the European Union would not join us in helping refugees," he said.
Kraska was also asked about the special hospital train that Poland organised to bring wounded people from Ukraine to Poland.
"Ukraine has not yet indicated that such a transport is needed, so we have used this train to transport children, mainly oncological patients," he said.
