Ukrainian Aid in Medicine Supply by Honorary Consul General of Belize, Yoram Naor
Honorary Consul General of Belize, Yoram Naor teamed up with Svetlana Faktorovich and Melanie Kelfer through Operation Mordechai and Sar El to supply children in The Ukraine with lifesaving medicine which they previously did not have access to.
Below are the words of Svetlana Faktorovich
Dear Honourable Consul Yoram Naor,
I am sending you my deepest gratitude for your assistance supporting epilepsy needs in Ukraine.
As you know, I am a Ukrainian-American Neurologist and founding member of the Ukraine Neurology Initiative, a collaborative effort between the Brothers Brother Foundation and neurologists around the US to support epilepsy needs in Ukraine. Working with our neurology colleagues on the ground in Ukraine, we are able to distribute medications directly to patients in need at home.
There are 103 children in Ukraine dependent on the medication you provided us, vigabatrin, used to treat Infantile Spasms, a very dangerous form of childhood epilepsy, Tuberous Sclerosis Complex as well as other refractory forms of epilepsy. Unfortunately, due to its controlled nature in the US under the REMS program and severe supply shortage worldwide, it has been unavailable for purchase in the US, Canada and Europe for the last 7 months. Furthermore, epilepsy therapies have not been prioritized by humanitarian organization prior to this war, and we are one of the few groups around the world supplying them.
With your help, along with Sar El and Melanie Kelfer, President of Operation Mordechai, we were able to purchase 30,000 doses of Vigabatrin within days of sending you the request. That is enough to supply those 103 children with more than 3 months of lifesaving medication. The medication successfully arrived to Lviv on September 28, 2022, and was distributed to the children in need over the next few days.
During the darkest time for these children, your compassion and hard work brought back light into their lives. Without appropriate medication , their conditions often result in irreversible brain injury or death. I truly cannot express my appreciation enough.
Attached here are photos of some of the beautiful recipients of your shipment as well as of Dr. Olha Tychkivska after receiving the shipment . Dr. Tychkivska is leading the initiative of distributing epilepsy medication around Ukraine.
We will continue supporting epilepsy needs in Ukraine as long as there is a need, and I hope to find additional ways to collaborate in the future.
Sincerely,
Svetlana Faktorovich, MD
Neurologist, Marcus Neuroscience Institute, Boca Raton, FL
Assistant Professor, Florida Atlantic University School of Medicine, Boca Raton, FL
Board of Trustees, Brother’s Brother Foundation
