European hospitals have received 500 patients from Ukraine, Moldova and neighbouring Member States thanks to the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides stressed the generosity of the 13 countries to which patients were transferred (including Italy): “This is true EU solidarity in action”, made possible thanks to “an assistance effort of unprecedented scale and speed to support and protect Ukraine and its people”. Commissioner Kyriakides assured that “Ukraine can continue counting on the EU’s unabated support”. EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič explained that hospitals in Ukraine and neighbouring countries “are increasingly under pressure”, and that there is therefore a need to ensure treatment for both chronically-ill patients and those wounded in the war. This is dealt with under the “Solidarity Mechanism”, a specific European system that guarantees the safe transfer of patients and their data through the sharing of medical records under the “Early Warning and Response System”, which enables the Commission to report to the Ukrainian authorities on patient transfers. The EU “is working 24/7 to coordinate medical evacuations of Ukrainian patients”, said Commissioner Lenarčič, showing once again “its support to the most vulnerable. Together, we are saving lives”.