By KYIV. May 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) – After the war, about 15 million Ukrainians may need psychological help, Director of the Medical Services Department at the Ministry of Health Oleksandra Mashkevych has said.
“According to our rough estimates, about 15 million citizens will need psychological assistance and psychosocial support,” she said during the National Telethon on Thursday.
Mashkevych said that different groups of the population will need such assistance, including children, veterans, military personnel, their families, returnees from captivity, and others.
She recalled that within the framework of the initiative of First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, the Ministry of Health has developed a project for the provision of psychological assistance at the primary level of medical care.
“The state has already trained about 10,000 primary care doctors. They have received special training from the WHO and the Ministry of Health and already have the primary psychological care skills. Any person who experiences anxiety, some changes in their behavior and feels that he or she needs help can apply to these doctors and undergo a mental health screening to identify deeper problems and respond in time,” she said.
At the same time, the representative of the Ministry of Health added that to receive such assistance, the patient can contact a family doctor.
“We are talking about the additional skills of doctors who underwent additional training during the war and received those skills that, unfortunately, they could not get when they studied at medical schools,” she said.
