Centre for Health Crises

The centre will enhance and improve KI’s ability to face health threats. The idea is to be of assistance to society in times of a crisis, through multi-disciplinary research, education, and expertise in different health emergency areas. The centre connects cell with society, prevention with emergency efforts, and different research areas with each other. Through its work the centre will contribute to strengthening the regional, national, and global preparedness for health crisis and pandemics.

An important part of the centre's work is to be able to provide up-to-date knowledge and skills and make KI's expertise available to the wider society.

To get in touch with us, please email: healthcrises@ki.se

If you would like to receive updates from the Centre for Health Crises straight to your mailbox, please contact: asa.svensson@ki.se

Ukraine - what does the Centre for Health Crises do

Since the outbreak of war, the Centre for Health Crises has been working actively, based on the needs on-site and in accordance with KI’s mandate and expertise, with both a long and short term perspective.  

A few examples of what the centre has done includes that; our director Johan von Schreeb has, through KI's collaboration agreement on secondment to the WHO, until recently, held the position of medical coordinator, focusing on trauma surgery, in Ukraine. In an interview with Läkartidningen (in Swedish) he talks about the role and about the state of Ukrainian health care. 

Moreover, KI has contributed with expert support to the National Board of Health and Welfare. Representatives of KI and the centre has also participated frequently in the media. Experts at KI will continue to assist Swedish public authorities with expertise and advice. We have also made courses in handling mass casualty situations, that were developed here at KI, available and held training in Ukraine and Moldova.

KI also support Bogolomet University in Kiev, through an already established collaboration agreement. Since the war began, KI’s president is in close contact with his counterpart at Bogolomet. KI’s president has also made several statements related to the war on his blog.

The centre’s ability to act is limited, naturally. We are not able to collect or dispatch medical supplies or relief supplies to Ukraine or the border areas in neighbouring countries. For information and coordination of such relief efforts we refer to established international aid organisations operating in the affected area.

KI has compiled information about what we do and the resources we have in the form of researchers and expert on our webpage The War in Ukraine. If you are a student or employee at KI you will also find information and links to support functions here, as well as information for people arriving from the Ukraine to KI and people who host them.

Our steering group consists of: Lars I Eriksson (chairman), Hans-Gustav Ljunggren, Anna Mia Ekström, Lars Engstrand, Maria Eriksdotter, Birgitta Henriques Normark, Stefan Swartling Peterson, Ulrika Widegren and Anneli Eriksson, and adjunct: Olli Kallioniemi, Therese Lind and Sebastiaan Meijer.