UKRAINE, KHARKIV, Sep. 29 — On Sep. 27, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Kharkiv National Medical University opened a new prosthetic and orthotics laboratory at the university hospital.

Gwara Media visited the laboratory to find out how it will operate.

The laboratory provides military and civilian patients with comprehensive rehabilitation services that will include physical therapy, prosthetics and orthotics, psychological and psychosocial support, and transportation if necessary.

The Ministry of Social Policy funded prosthetics, and the Ministry of Health is working along with it to integrate them into the rehabilitation cycle so that patients leave the hospital with a ready-made prosthesis.

Equipment for prosthetic and orthotics laboratory that opened in Kharkiv on Sep. 17
Equipment for prosthetic and orthotics laboratory that opened in Kharkiv on Sep. 17 / Photo: Gwara Media, Tania Shamrai
Equipment for prosthetic and orthotics laboratory that opened in Kharkiv on Sep. 17
Equipment for prosthetic and orthotics laboratory that opened in Kharkiv on Sep. 17 / Photo: Gwara Media, Tania Shamrai

Viktor Liashko, Minister of Health, Denys Uliutin, Minister of Social Policy, Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv oblast, Ihor Terekhov, the mayor, and Juan Pedro Scherer, the head of the ICRC Delegation in Ukraine, attended the opening event.

According to Liashko, the rehabilitation process will begin immediately after the patient’s condition stabilizes while still in intensive care.

The sooner a person stands upright and starts using training prostheses, the better the results of further rehabilitation will be, Liashko said.

Valerii Miasoiedov, the head of the Kharkiv National Medical University, also attended the laboratory and said it is the first state hospital in Eastern Ukraine to do an integrated rehabilitation and prosthetics system that meets international standards.

In the future, Miasoiedov wants to create a big rehabilitation centre based on the university.

The representatives of the Red Cross committee said that the new laboratory is a part of a rehabilitation program that has been operating in a mobile centre since July 2024. Now, patients would be able to go through all procedures in one building.

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