On May 20-21, 2021 in Lutsk (Ukraine), together with the Volyn National University named after Lesya Ukrainka, we organized the International Scientific Conference “Health security in the ​​cross-border cooperation area of the Poland-Belarus-Ukraine Programme 2014-2020”. The conference had a hybrid form – the main participants took part in person at the university premises, others through the Zoom online platform.

During the Conference, scientists from three Programme countries analyzed health safety issues in the context of projects implemented under the Programme. They discussed the issues of effective prevention and control of infectious diseases, socio-economic effects and epidemics, and coordination of the activities of services in the event of an epidemiological threat. The topic of counteracting pandemic threats and the policy of communicating about them has sparked a lively debate. The topics of the Conference are presented in the publication (here), which contains a collection of articles by scientists participating in the Conference.

Limited access to health care or insufficient access to medical infrastructure are just some of the problems faced by the inhabitants of the Polish-Belarusian-Ukrainian borderland. Due to the coronavirus pandemic we think about health safety more often than before. The Programme responds to these needs by implementing the thematic objective SECURITY, which serves, inter alia, increasing access to healthcare, preventing disease infection across borders, and developing social services.

The Programme was also actively involved in fighting the pandemic - hospitals implementing co-financed projects received an additional 3 MEUR for the purchase of medical equipment (respirators, oxygen devices, etc.), Covid-19 tests and personal protective equipment.

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Scientific Conference in Lutsk