Healthcare services closer to home

Its two long streets stretch for over 14 kilometers along the highway, with homes, gardens, and farms scattered in between.

For its 2,800 residents, the day starts early and revolves around household chores and seasonal agricultural work. 

The distance to the district hospital, just five kilometers via country roads, may seem insignificant. But for the elderly residents, even this short journey is a challenge. Not everyone can cover it unaided. And when your chest feels tight, or blood pressure rises, or it is time to get an ECG, delaying care can be risky. 

In December 2025, with support from GIZ, the village was able to open a modular health post. The small, bright building equipped with furniture, heaters, and basic medical supplies, quickly became a place where people come for medical help and advice. Two nurses, Liudmyla and Alla, receive patients here every day. 

They perform checkups, measure blood pressure, and help patients manage chronic conditions. Recently, the range of their services expanded. With financial support from the Danish healthcare company Novo Nordisk, UNOPS delivered refrigeration equipment and modern medical devices including an electrocardiograph, an ophthalmoscope, an otoscope, and blood and urine analysers. 

“Extended blood tests and urine tests are among the most required ones,” says Alla. “Now I can do them right here, send the results to a doctor via a messaging app, and the patient receives recommendations quickly, without needing to go on an exhausting trip”.

Among Alla’s patients is Anna, a 75-year-old woman who suffered a heart attack fifteen years ago. Since then, she has carefully followed all her cardiologist’s recommendations: annual checkups, regular ECG, blood pressure monitoring, and IV treatment. 

“I come here, to the health post. The district hospital is too far away, and I have my livestock and vegetable patch, and the household to take care of. I can’t keep travelling back and forth,” she says.

In the afternoon, the nurses visit up to 20 patients at home. They run routine checks, and administer treatments. To reach her patients on time, Liudmyla bought an electric scooter. It is far more reliable than a bicycle, she says, especially on dirt roads. Locals recognise her from afar by her bright sweater and large medical bag. 

Thanks to Novo Nordisk and UNOPS, the health post in Kryve Ozero Druhe now has not only essential laboratory equipment, but also a dedicated space for gynaecological examinations. 

There are hopes that this will soon allow a gynaecologist to see patients here. In a large city, this would be seen as a regular service range expansion. For a village, however, it changes the daily routine: people no longer have to choose between tending to their farm and visiting a doctor. Now, they can manage both.