Information for patients with multiple sclerosis from Ukraine

Unie ROSKA - Czech MS Society, has been helping patients with multiple sclerosis in the Czech Republic for 30 years. Based on its possibilities, it is ready to help patients with this disease from Ukraine. You can find us at www.roska.eu; roska@roska.eu. You can contact us in English, German or Russian. We can arrange translations from Ukrainian.

Assistance to war refugees from Ukraine:

Unie ROSKA can assist with access to healthcare, employment for people with disabilities and the processing of disability-related benefits.

Information for Ukrainian patients with MS who are in the Czech Republic (as of 17.3.2022)

1. Holders of a visa for tolerated stay are entitled to health insurance to the same extent as Czech citizens and have the same rights. They must go through a registration process and register with a health insurance company. The entitlement is valid for one year. Access to treatment is immediate.
2. The Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic has set up UA points for newcomers from Ukraine at the university hospitals it directly manages. The Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic has set up UA points for newcomers from Ukraine at the teaching hospitals it directly manages. On the spot, emergency medical care will be provided for adults, children and adolescents from Ukraine and, in case of increased interest, gynaecological and obstetric services. Interpreter services will also be provided on site. The Ministry of Health recommends the establishment of UA POINT to other hospitals.
3. The Ministry of Health is now primarily concerned with the provision of primary care. However, it will also look more closely at chronic patients as soon as capacity allows.
4. In the Czech Republic, care for patients with multiple sclerosis is provided in 15 centres of highly specialised care (MS centres). Only these have the right to indicate biological treatment.

LIST OF CZECH MS CENTRES

MS Centres in university hospitals

• Neurological Clinic FN Brno Bohunice                 Jihlavská 20, 625 00 Brno
• Neurological Clinic FN Brno U Sv. Anny                 Pekařská 53, 656 91 Brno
• Neurological Clinic FN Hradec Králové                 Sokolská 581, 500 05 Hradec Králové
• Neurological Clinic FN Olomouc P. Pavlova 6, 775 20 Olomouc
• Neurological Clinic FN Ostrava                 listopadu 1790, 708 52 Ostrava
• Neurological Clinic FN Plzeň                 Alej Svobody 80, 304 60 Plzeň
• Neurological Clinic 1. LF UK a VFN                 Karlovo nám. 32, 128 08 Praha 2
• Neurological Clinic 2. LF a FN Motol                 V Úvalu 84, 150 06 Praha 5-Motol
• Neurological Clinic 3. LF a NKV                                 Šrobárova 50, 100 34 Praha 10

MS Centres in other hospitals (it is not certain when UApoint will be established in these hospitals)

• Neurological ward of České Budějovice hospital Boženy Němcové 585/54, 370 87 České Budějovice
• Neurological Clinic Thomayerova nemocnice Vídeňská 800, 140 59 Praha 4
• Neurological ward Teplice Duchcovská 53, 415 28 Teplice
• Neurologické ward of regional hospital Tomáše Bati Zlín Havlíčkovo nábřeží 600, 762 75 Zlín
• Neurological Clinic FN Pardubice Kyjevská 44, 532 03 Pardubice
• Neurological Ward of Jihlava hospital Vrchlického 59, 586 33 Jihlava

At the moment (26.03.2022), patients with MS can be advised to contact UA points in university hospitals where there is also an MS centre.

Note that there are also university hospitals that do not have an MS centre. They are the following hospitals.

What to do when visiting a doctor - recommendations of the Unie ROSKA

• If you have a medical report from your treating neurologist, take it with you. If not, prepare a list of medications you are taking.
• You can also use the questionnaire you can find on the ROSKA website to take important details and medical history https://www.roska.eu/podpora.
• If possible, ask someone in your area to accompany and interpret for the doctor. If this is not possible, interpretation can also be arranged over the telephone.
• Interpreters and volunteers can be found, for example, here www.pomahejukrajine.cz. You can also contact the telephone line 1221 or the ROSKA Union at roska@roska.eu. You can contact us in English, German or Russian. We can arrange for translations from Ukrainian.

We will be happy to welcome you at the events of the Unie ROSKA. Soon it will be:

20. National online conference "A place for quality life with MS" on 18 and 19 May 2022. We are negotiating simultaneous interpretation into Ukrainian.

Fundraising concert for ROSKA on May 28, 2022 in Prague. We are negotiating for online transmission.

Further international assistance

The Unie ROSKA in cooperation with a partner patient organisation in Ukraine will assist in providing the necessary medicines for MS patients in Ukraine. The assistance in this area has a strict regime for good reasons. Medicines must be transported in controlled conditions, because only in this way the quality of the delivered aid can be guaranteed. For some types of medicines (e.g. opiates) an export permit is also required. The only way to transport medicines to Ukraine is through a proper distribution chain, and in volumes that exceed the difficulty of coordinating the receipt of such a donation in a war zone. Such aid is only possible through official cooperation between countries through a mechanism at European Union level, or through humanitarian organisations that are professionally dedicated to this type of aid and have experience in this area. Always through official distributors. 

The ROSKA Union will inform the international umbrella organisations EMSP and MSIF about the situation and the need for assistance. We will personally negotiate with the partner patient organisations from Europe at the EMSP conference in Madrid at the end of April to ensure assistance from all over Europe.

Do you want to help? Do you need help? Here you will find useful links:

Continuously updated guidelines of the Ministry of Health on the provision of health care for citizens of Ukraine: https://www.mzcr.cz/category/ukrajina/

The website http://lekariproukrajinu.cz/ contains a list of general practitioners, paediatricians, gynaecologists and doctors of other specialties who provide free medical care to citizens of Ukraine in need of acute medical treatment.

You can use advice from the publication Assisting People with Disabilities in Disasters, published by the Ministry of the Interior. For more information and to download the publication, click here: https://www.mvcr.cz/clanek/ministerstvo-vnitra-vydalo-prirucku-asistence-lidem-s-disabilitou-pri-katastrofach.aspx

The Home Office's signpost for assistance to Ukraine: www.nasiukrajinci.cz

Websites for linking supply and demand for aid: www.stojimezaukrajinou.cz, www.pomahejukrajine.cz

People in Need: www.clovekvtisni.cz

Charity Czech Republic: www.charita.cz

Czech Red Cross: www.cck-cr.cz

Official database of volunteers of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic for assistance to Ukrainian citizens: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1LfLz_cjp1kKVTrlxodeEbwChfmhx5FhKg5U6w6nweAo/viewform?edit_requested=true&fbclid=IwAR0kMbq43BTE3iMLioF-YNW4FnhmXiecalEtMGbsXp-c4EhnYD125hmb28o