II Round table on the integration of Ukrainian children in Slovakia 7.03.2023
Representatives of our association at the invitation of the Children's Commissioner Prof. MUDr. Jozef Miklošek participated in the second round table on the topic of integration of Ukrainian children in Slovakia. In addition to the Children's Commissioner himself, the event was attended by the new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Slovakia Myroslav Kastran, adviser to the Prime Minister for cross-border cooperation Eduard Buraš, state secretary of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports Slavomír Partila and chief specialist for primary pediatrics MUDr. Emilia Prokopová.
From the point of view of topics, the event was divided into two main areas, namely education and health care for the children of Ukrainian immigrants. Since at MALnS we prioritize healthcare, the second part of the round table was more interesting for us. We will now try to give you a summary of the most important.
News number 1 was definitely the information that the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic decided on a change in the scope of health care provided for children and adolescents from birth to 18 years + 364 days who are provided with temporary shelter in the Slovak Republic from 1 January 2023. As of this date, children of emigrants whose parents do not work have full health care in Slovakia (more information >>>).
Report number 2, which is related to the first one, is the problem of the lack of pediatricians and, unfortunately, the still impossible entry of foreign (mainly Ukrainian) pediatricians into the health care system in Slovakia. This is a problem that we have been pointing out since the very foundation of MALnS, with the fact that we have also offered solutions that we hope will be accepted in a short period of time and will at least partially help solve the problem. We will be happy about it, whoever wants to take the credit.
So, if we put these two reports together, the result is as follows: the onslaught on the already overcrowded outpatient clinics (according to MD Prokopová's information, we also have some that register 2,500 children's patients per one pediatrician, which is already an unmanageable number despite all the efforts of the doctor) will be even greater and in addition to paediatricians, the shortage of nurses, which we wrote about last time, will be brought to the surface even more. According to the information that was heard at the event, in Slovakia we have approx. 30,000 outcast children - potential new child patients. It would probably be really beneficial if at least part of the pediatricians and nurses were able to communicate with them in their native language and thereby speed up the entire process of providing health care for this already significant group of children. Unfortunately, it probably won't be the final number and it won't be for a short time either, so let's try to use all the options we have to solve this problem.
So what awaits us?
We will continue to work with pediatricians until the end of the process of recognizing their diplomas in Slovakia, with the fact that we will also be helpful in preparing them to successfully handle the entire process and their integration into the health care system. We also focused on the possibility of helping Ukrainian practical nurses to increase their qualifications and reach the level of a recognized nurse. Here, however, we are only at the very beginning, but we must appreciate the interest of some competent people in the solution. We will inform you about everything. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
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