Care in Conflict: Peer-to-Peer Health in Ukraine
Summary
In 2025, Ukraine Children’s Action Project (UCAP) and Health Tech Without Borders (HTWB) committed to supporting peer-to-peer health education in Dnipro Oblast, a region long central to Ukraine’s industrial development but is now deeply strained by war. By implementing telecommunications between five hospitals, this initiative will enable pediatric consults, imaging, and expert care models, ensuring children continue to access essential medical services despite damaged infrastructure, dangerous roads, and overwhelmed facilities. UCAP is providing direct funding, planning, and logistical support, while HTWB is leading implementation with subject matter experts and advanced health tech solutions, including telehealth infrastructure, digital health tools, remote monitoring, and clinical decision-support systems. Training programs will strengthen long-term pediatric care capacity across Dnipro Oblast by May 2026. At the center is a hub hospital providing pediatric care, with telemedicine and peer-to-peer consultations extending its reach to surrounding facilities. These efforts will deliver specialized, life-saving care to children otherwise unable to access treatment
Approach
Ukraine Children’s Action Project (UCAP) and Health Tech Without Borders (HTWB) will partner with five hospitals in the region, utilizing a hub-and-spoke model to implement telecommunications between hospitals to assist with pediatric consults, imaging, and expert peer-to-peer care models. These efforts attempt to ensure that pediatric patients continue to receive necessary medical services despite external challenges.
The initiative is backed by UCAP, which provides direct funding, planning, and logistical support on the ground. HTWB brings in subject matter experts (SMEs) and leads the implementation of comprehensive health tech solutions, including but not limited to: telehealth infrastructure, digital health solutions, remote monitoring tools, and clinical decision-support systems, while also delivering technical training programs to strengthen long-term pediatric care capacity.
The effort’s hub-and-spoke model is made possible by the fact that the Hub Hospital provides pediatric subspecialty care on-site, offering critical services that are otherwise inaccessible in many parts of the region. This capability and the ability to provide telemedicine and peer-to-peer consultations is essential for addressing complex pediatric conditions and ensuring that children in need receive specialized treatment without the additional burden of long or unsafe travel.
Over the past year, extensive planning and collaboration between HTWB and UCAP have shaped the design of an appropriate hub-and-spoke model, with active engagement from the Dnipro team. HTWB has also conducted assessments to identify and source suitable medical equipment. Key elements of operational readiness have been addressed.
Action Plan
The action plan for this Commitment to Action will focus on training, equipment installation, and testing of systems such as patient tracking, communications, and medical records. Local pediatricians will be trained to effectively use the technology, with additional support for radiological imaging and peer-to-peer clinical training.
2025 Q1- Discussions and equipment demos were held among UCAP, HTWB, and Dnipro teams.
2025 Q2 – Equipment delivery to five hospitals; equipment paid for by UCAP; setup, testing, and plan for start of initial telehealth operations by HTWB, UCAP, and Dnipro team. Pilot data collection forms developed and started in May and June.
2025 Q3-Q4/2026 Q1-Q2 – Quarterly meetings started; Review of operations and data by UCAP, HTWB, and Dnipro team; Modified forms for reporting created to include all of the telehealth operations; Planning for utilization and reporting on outside of initial project scope. Transition to regular data collection for quality assurance and improvement intervals performed by all parties. Assess the need for additional administrative, educational, and equipment support conducted by HTWB, UCAP and the Dnipro team (e.g. home tele-consults, rehabilitation, grand rounds, or complex patient discussions) .
2026 Q2 – Final review of telehealth project, accomplishments, and potential for scaling or influencing other regional health care systems. HTWB and UCAP will continue to support as necessary, including educational opportunities or other potential projects before final transition to the Ukraine team in Dnipro Hub hospital.
Background
The Dnipropetrovsk region, now known as Dnipro Oblast, has a long history, playing a significant role in Ukraine’s industrial development, particularly in steel, coal mining, and manufacturing. It became a key part of the Soviet Union’s industrial base and continues to be a major economic hub in modern Ukraine. Since the 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, the region has faced significant challenges, including escalating conflict, security concerns, economic hardship, and strained health care systems.
The war has deeply impacted children in the region, with many facing disruptions to their education, nutrition, and access to health care. Due to damaged infrastructure, dangerous roads, ongoing conflict, and overwhelmed health care facilities, thousands of children have been unable to receive timely medical care, especially in more rural or conflict-affected areas. The exact number of children affected is difficult to determine, but through our efforts in Ukraine we know that there are struggles to access adequate pediatric care due to these barriers.
Telehealth networks have become a critical lifeline for health care delivery. These digital platforms allow patients to access medical consultations, diagnoses, and treatments remotely, bypassing the need for physical travel to often distant or hard-to-reach hospitals. Telehealth ensures that even in areas where transportation is risky or unavailable, individuals, including pediatric patients, can still receive vital health care services. This has been particularly important during times of crisis, where mobility is restricted, and health care facilities are overwhelmed or lacking resources.
Progress Update
Partnership Opportunities
Implementing pediatric telemedicine in conflict zones requires several critical resources: media engagement to raise awareness, comprehensive training for health care professionals, and robust technology infrastructure, including but not limited to: secure digital platforms and reliable internet connectivity. Strong partnerships with NGOs and government entities are essential for effective resource distribution, while sustainable funding supports system upkeep and equipment procurement. This initiative also contributes to building a scalable telehealth network that can serve as a model for other regions facing similar challenges.,By working together, UCAP and HTWB can bring immediate relief to children in need, while also creating a more resilient health care system in Ukraine that integrates technology to ensure long-term health outcomes for children, even in the face of ongoing conflict. The collaboration would help create a sustainable model of health care access for children that can adapt to emergencies and continue to serve vulnerable populations in the future.
As part of this collaborative commitment, UCAP contributes expertise in pediatric health systems development along with partial funding to support the hub-and-spoke model. HTWB offers specialized knowledge in digital health and technology implementation, ensuring alignment with international clinical and operational standards. In addition, HTWB shares best practices, skills development, and scalable models from global health contexts. The participating hospitals demonstrate their commitment by continuing to provide access to pediatric care amid wartime challenges.