Ukrainian Radiotherapy departments appeal
please see message below shared on behalf of Diana Grishchuk, Principal Medical Physicist, Queen Square Radiosurgery Centre, London:
"Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine I'm doing my best to help Ukrainians to survive through this dark period of their history. My family and friends are there at the moment. Together with (www.wehelpukrainians.org) and Amethyst Radiotherapy UK we've managed to supply medicaments to a number of hospitals via groups of volunteers. But the time has come to help their radiotherapy departments, and I would like to ask for your help.
Even before the war Ukraine didn't have enough RT centres. The service included only 25 Linacs in operation (for population of circa 46 million), others were mainly Cobalt machines. At the moment only ~75% of those centres are still treating, and the number of patients has tripled in some areas. They are in acute need of immobilisation devices for those patients including masks and boluses. Many medical warehouses were destroyed or are unavailable due to logistical issues, 15 airports were destroyed, many bridges and highways damaged. Together with Ruslan Zelinskyi, the president of the Ukrainian Association of Medical Physicists, we've created a list of necessary immobilisation masks for hospitals. The vendors have donated some equipment, but it doesn't cover even the current needs. If you would like to know more about their situation, please read the following papers:
How you can help
If your hospital is willing to donate a mask, it would be greatly appreciated. If 10 hospitals donate 3-5 masks each, it will be enough for one Ukrainian RT department to operate for 3-4 months. Plus, they are actively re-using them to treat as many patients as possible. Please contact me if you would like to help. We will collect them in London and ship to Ukraine through our volunteers. I've attached the document with the list of what's needed (see link below). I've you need any documents or information from my side about where it will go I'm more than happy to provide it.
Alternatively, we are fundraising to purchase as much as we can from the vendors. Even £10 will make a difference - https://gofund.me/794b2a31
Thank you very much in advance!"
Diana Grishchuk
Principal Medical Physicist, Queen Square Radiosurgery Centre