The Evacuation of Pediatric Oncology Patients to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Ned Price, Department Spokesperson

Our partnership with, and commitment to, the people of Ukraine is steadfast and enduring. To that end, the Department of State has coordinated with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to provide necessary life-saving and immediate care to four Ukrainian children whose ongoing cancer treatment was disrupted by President Putin’s war of choice. The Department supported airlift of these pediatric oncology patients and some of their immediate family members from Poland to Memphis International Airport, where they were met and transported to St. Jude. There, the patients will be able to safely resume critical cancer therapy disrupted by the Kremlin’s aggression. They will receive the specialized care they desperately need, and their family members will be afforded sustenance, security, and support from St. Jude.

Children are among the most vulnerable in a crisis, and these pediatric oncology patients need urgent and highly specialized medical care. We are proud to stand with European partners who are also treating children whose life-saving care in Ukraine has been made impossible by Putin’s war. We recognize, however, that the children transported represent a small proportion of the thousands of patients whose cancer treatment has been interrupted and, who, even amid a pandemic and with compromised immune systems, were forced to flee their homes. That is why, together with our allies and partners, we will continue to support our Ukrainian partners as we seek to save lives and bring this needless war to a close.