MoldovAnn

My colleague’s neighbor got very sick over the weekend, with a high temperature. Since the consesus has been that those who have died from H1N1-related illnesses waited too long to get medical attention, Ella (my colleague) urged him to call the hospital, to get paramedics to come check him. Instead of help, he was told that they don’t have any medicine so the paramedics wouldn’t come to his apartment. This was especially shocking after Prime Minister Tymoshenko has been all over the TV claiming there is 2x as much medicine as there are sick people in Ukraine. I’m not really sure what that means.

Greetings from Kyiv sums up well part of the reason there is such a panicky reaction to the flu:

Rumors are abounding everywhere about just what is going on in Ukraine. What some people outside of Ukraine don’t understand is that there is a history in this country of the government not giving out vital health information (check your history on Chernobyl) and a socialized medical system in which many times doctors do not even communicate to people what kind of disease they have. So it makes sense that Ukrainians are nervous about what is really happening around them.

My guess is that there are little to no reliable statistics on the flu and other seasonal illnesses from past years, and so the fact that there are statistics being quoted right now freaks people out. I have yet to see a report that compares this current flu outbreak to any figures from previous years – so how can we know whether this is worse, the same, or maybe even not as bad as past winter flu seasons?

I don’t know if the flu is worse now in Ukraine than it normally is, and I don’t think anyone else knows either. But I’m very glad to see people being more aware of basic hygienic precautions that would help all of us all year long – cover your mouth when you cough and sneeze, wash your hands with soap and water, eat healthy, drink moderately, get plenty of vitamins, build up your immune system.