Ukraine’s Health Ministry has instructed medical institutions to treat patients with cold symptoms, regardless of their places of residence and registration, in order to prevent an epidemic.
Ukraine’s Chief Sanitary Doctor Oleksandr Bilovol on Oct. 28 made the announcement during a press conference in Kyiv.
"Non-residents or visitors can go to any polyclinic or hospital to receive emergency care,” Bilovol said, adding that the measure was being introduced to respond to recent outbreaks of flu and acute respiratory infections.
Bilovol said the epidemiological situation in Ukraine is generally under control, but noted the recent increases of illnesses observed in western regions of the country.
As of Oct. 28, Ukraine’s Health Ministry has confirmed 20 cases of death caused by viral pneumonia in the Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Lviv regions as of October 28.
Some 20 people diagnosed with pneumonia died in three western regions in Ukraine in October, according to First Deputy Health Minister Vasyl Lazoryshynets, who said ten people provisionally diagnosed with pneumonia had died in Ternopil region as of October 13. Six people have died in Ivano-Frankivsk region as of October 13, and four people in Lviv region as of October 1.
Health Ministry officials did not rule out that these people were infected with the A/H1N1 swine flu virus.
