Humanitarian Crises
Residents Across the Globe: A Call for Education, Advocacy, and Collaboration
The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have resulted in unprecedented delays in cancer care. The Global Coalition for Radiotherapy (GCR) has been working to alleviate this backlog and has been functioning as an emergency task force in Ukraine. Not only have patients been displaced by the war, but trainees and physicians have been greatly impacted as well. Given that radiation is needed to treat over half of all cancer cases, it is imperative to advocate for radiation oncology as a field and collaborate globally, especially as trainees.Lessons for Ukraine: How the International Radiation Therapy Community Can Respond and Support Both Now and in the Future
The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine promoted a huge outpouring of support. For many, the question was what to do and how to help. In the radiation therapy community, the challenges our Ukrainian colleagues would face were all too clear: how to maintain radiation therapy services in a war.Radiation Therapy Under the Falling Bombs: A Tale of 2 Ukrainian Cancer Centers
The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, brought the largest humanitarian disaster since World War II to the heart of Europe. The Russian army has caused absolute destruction and chaos for everyone in its path, and Ukraine has lost tens of thousands of civilian lives, out of which many were innocent children. Many more have been wounded, and approximately one-third of the population of Ukraine has been displaced: 7 million as refugees and 7.1 million as internally displaced people.Access to Radiation Therapy by Syrian Refugees Displaced to Turkey
For over 10 years, the Syrian conflict has caused millions of people to leave their homeland, causing one of the biggest refugee crises in modern history. Considering its prevalence, cancer is an important care burden among Syrian refugees. Radiation therapy is one of the essential parts of cancer treatment, and radiation oncology departments must guarantee optimal cancer treatments even in such a challenging setting when patients are displaced forcefully from their homes. National and institutional measures are highlighted in this manuscript to provide suggestions for the delivery of care during refugee crises.While Ukrainian Soldiers Are Fearlessly Defending Their Country, Ukrainian Oncologists Are Bravely Battling Cancer
Andriy Beznosenko, a 39-year-old Chief Medical Officer of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Kyiv and the president of the Ukrainian Society of Clinical Oncology (Fig. 1), agreed to talk to Roman Kowalchuk and I about the dire situation for cancer care in Ukraine. He has been living in the National Cancer Institute building since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For the NCI staff, it is safer to stay in the hospital than staying home on their own, plus the early and frequent curfew hours do not let the hospital staff leave home (Fig. 2).Psychosocial Impact of the War in Ukraine on Pediatric Cancer Patients and Their Families Receiving Oncological Care Outside Their Country at the Onset of Hostilities
Psychosocial care of pediatric cancer patients and their families is as critical as the medical and surgical components of their therapies. Strains on family communication and structure and financial need are linked to poorer psychological outcomes for both patients and families. It is critical that children remain as connected as possible to their communities and extended families during therapy. For Ukrainian pediatric cancer patients receiving care outside of their nation's borders on February 24, 2022, the Russian invasion of Ukraine compounded these problems.Radiation Oncology in a Humanitarian Emergency: Experience with Ukrainian Refugees at 2 Cancer Centers in Poland and Italy
The current situation and management of Ukrainian patients at 2 European cancer care centers in Poland and Italy is described. Both centers admit refugees from the war in Ukraine.
