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“Two weeks have passed since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. Despite 141 countries voting in the UN General Assembly for the Russian army to stop fighting and withdraw from another sovereign country, Ukraine, the fighting is increasingly bloody and brutal. The war has led to 2.2 million people including about 1 million children fleeing from their homes and becoming refugees. There are 71 children confirmed killed including 18 months old infant in Mariupol. Most of child fatalities result from attacks from the air or with rockets,” said the statement issued by the Baltic and Nordic National Pediatric Societies and Pediatricians on the 10th of March.
It urges medics from different countries to call their governments to do more in order to to protect the lives of children in Ukraine, to stop the war and rockets and bombs attacks on civil infrastructure of Ukraine. Russian leaders of children and children's organizations are also urged to express clear and loud position against the war in Ukraine and to do everything in their power to stop the war. Finally, it confirms solidarity and professional support for children’s doctors and nurses in Ukraine.
During 36 hours since the publication of this report, it has been signed by representatives of international medical associations (such as the European Society of Infectious Diseases for Children, the European Society of Respiratory Physicians and the European Confederation of Primary Care Children) from 26 European countries. “We have to convince politicians that there is no other way to stop the war now. This statement is due today to members of the US Congress and Senate, the United Nations, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and national governments. Let’s make this united statement of famous pediatricians and their unifying organizations public,” said Professor of the Faculty of Medicine of Vilnius University, Dr. Arūnas Valiulis.
See full document with participants HERE.