U.S. surgeon, non-profit receive Order of Saint Panteleimon for helping Ukraine
Reconstructive surgeon Manoj Abraham and the Project CURE nonprofit, engaged in the supply of medical equipment to Ukraine, were honored with the award, according to an Ukrinform correspondent in New York. On behalf of Project CURE, the order was received by its Executive Director Douglas Jackson.
The head of the World Federation of Ukrainian Medical Societies, Lviv Medical University Professor Andrii Bazylevych handed the awards at the Ukrainian Institute of America.
"The Order of St. Panteleimon was traditionally awarded to the best Ukrainian doctors, but last year they decided to spread the idea beyond Ukraine’s borders, since with the start of a full-scale war, much aid started flowing to Ukrainian hospitals from other countries," said the president of the U.S. Foreign Council of the Order of St. Panteleimon, Tetiana Tymkiv, who spoke in a comment to Ukrinform.
Such councils were set up in 12 countries.
The U.S. council has on its board 12 members from acclaimed Ukrainian organizations located across the country.
"Our task was to identify doctors, medics, philanthropists, or organizations that help Ukraine in the field of healthcare," Tymkiv explained, adding that all nominees for the award are “worthy”.
Dr. Abraham, Chairman of the U.S. Academy of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery's Face to Face initiative committee, was selected as the award recepient by ballot.
When Russia unleashed the big war, Face to Face specialists realized that Ukraine would need their help over war-related injuries.
The NY-based Razom for Ukraine initiative helped the team establish contacts with their colleagues in Ukraine and set up a trip.
A team of doctors operated in the western regions of Ukraine on nearly a hundred patients - both military and civilian - with serious facial injuries.
Project CURE is a non-profit organization that helps more than 130 countries around the world.
It started cooperating with Ukraine long before the full-scale invasion.
As Tymkiv said, the organization tranports medical aid to Ukraine in containers – including advanced high-quality medical equipment for operating rooms.
Since the beginning of the big war, the organization has handed over $50 million worth of aid to Ukraine.
The Order of Saint Panteleimon is the highest-ranked public award for professionalism and charity presented for significant results in the field of health care, spiritual and physical development of Ukrainian society, established in 2009. This summer, on Day of Medical Workers and Day of the Healer Panteleimon, Ukraine’s best medics were awarded in Kyiv.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, the University Clinic of the Federal State of Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) in Lübeck, Germany, received the Order of Saint Panteleimon late August.
