War in Ukraine has already affected around 18 million people: WHO

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine has already affected around 18 million people in the country, of which 6.7 million are so-called internally displaced persons,” The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Regional Office for Europe reported on Monday.

As added in the organisation’s statement, almost 3 million inhabitants of Ukraine have so far fled abroad.

The WHO also reported that from February 24 to last Saturdaythere were 31 verified attacks on medical facilities in Ukraine. As a result, 12 people were killed and 34 injured, including health care workers.

“Attacks on health care and health workers directly impact people’s ability to access essential health services – especially women, children and other vulnerable groups,” the organisation stressed in a statement, stressing that “international humanitarian and human rights law must be upheld, and the protection of civilians must be our top priority.”

Nearly 100 children have died so far

The Ukrainian general prosecutor's office reported that 90 children have been killed and more than 100 wounded in the country since Russia’s invasion began.

“The highest number of victims are in the Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kherson, Mykolayiv and Zhytomyr regions," the institution said in a statement.

Over 1.76 million Ukrainians have crossed the Polish border

On Monday, the Polish Border Guard (SG) reported that over 1.76 million Ukrainians have crossed the Polish border since February 24.

The Border Guard added that SG officers carried out 82,100 border checks on people entering Poland from Ukraine and the number of arrivals by 7:00 a.m on Monday had reached 18,400 people on Sunday.

According to the Polish Health Ministry, nearly 2,000 Ukrainian nationals are currently receiving medical care via the Polish health system.

Waldemar Kraska, Polish deputy Health Minister, told a public radio broadcaster on Monday that a special bill on aid for Ukrainian refugees, signed into law on Saturday, provides them with free access to Polish healthcare.

As he added, the situation is “quite difficult” and Poland is incurring “considerable costs.” He cited data from Poland's National Health Fund (NFZ), estimating the monthly cost of health services and prescription reimbursement per one million refugees at around PLN 200 million (EUR 42 mln).

“I cannot imagine that the EU would not join us in helping refugees,” he stressed.