Matthieu Metzger is head of the defense and security department at the Île-de-France Regional Health Agency (ARS). He was present at each Cigogne operation to repatriate Ukrainian children suffering from cancer in Paris. On the occasion of the visit to Ukraine this Friday, April 14, by the Minister of Health, François Braun, in particular to inaugurate a care center dedicated to reconstructive surgery, the manager returns to this French medical aid.
LE FIGARO. – Where does Operation Cigogne come from?
Matthew METZGER. – Shortly after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs engaged France, notably through this operation. It is coordinated with all the European countries, each of which calibrates the aid it can provide.
The Ministry has joined forces with the services of the French Society for the Fight against Childhood and Adolescent Cancer and Leukemia (SFCE) to both mobilize the actors, assess the reception capacities of sick children available in France and identify the patients who could be treated according to the technical facilities available.
How many children were eligible for repatriation?
In total, France welcomed 40 children, including around twenty in Île-de-France. The first transfer dates from March 21, 2022. Twenty young people were taken care of in hospitals the next day. Brigitte Macron and the Minister of Health at the time were present for the occasion. If it’s been a while since we repatriated children, we welcomed Ukrainian soldiers wounded in action to Rennes on Wednesday April 12, but this time as part of Operation Héron.
How did the repatriations go?
The Ukrainian children were evacuated to Poland then reunited by the Unicorn association, which coordinated the work with European countries for the reception and care of these children. The ministry then set up a medical air transfer with on board doctors, nurses and specialists in pediatric oncology. At the ARS, we were responsible for organizing the reception system at Orly airport and ensuring good care in the hospitals. This required a large system, set up with the police headquarters, Paris airports, the Red Cross, Samu and health establishments.
We welcomed children and their companions, often the mother, the brothers and sisters and sometimes the grandparents. Unfortunately, we have never seen fathers because all are mobilized on the front. It is important not to separate the families so as not to add psychological difficulties to this already heavy context.
When they arrived on the tarmac, a medical diagnosis was carried out to ensure that the transport to the hospital was well tolerated by the child. The Red Cross then took care of the entire families in their vehicles and then headed to the hospitals. During the first major transfer of 22 children, we urgently recreated an appropriate accommodation and medical care system in a hotel near Orly because around fifteen of them had to go outside Île-de-France. -France. This allowed them to have a stabilization and rest phase before a long journey.
To provide psychological support, were translators or members of the Ukrainian community present?
Yes, on the plane there were always translators. Upon arrival in Paris, the Ukrainian Embassy was present on all arrivals. Within hospitals, the Ukrainian community in France is very mobilized. It plays this role of reception, support and translation. Psychological help is obviously offered in hospitals.
Once the transfer to the hospital has been made, is follow-up maintained by the ARS with the families? And where are they housed?
Absolutely, we ensure that the overall care takes place correctly. Either the children are hospitalized or they enter a care circuit with frequent consultations. Pediatric oncology services operate in the same way as with other patients and organize all care.
To be closer to the children in the event of hospitalization, the carers stay in the houses of the families located within or near the hospitals, at the expense of the health insurance. These are small apartments generally within or attached to hospitals.
Then, if the child is no longer or not hospitalized, the families are included in the system of common law for the reception of Ukrainian refugees, with accommodation managed by the prefectures.
When the situation in Ukraine allows it, how will the repatriation of these children to their country be organised?
For the moment we do not ask ourselves the question but it is certain that if there is a transfer, it will be adapted to the needs of the patient, his situation at the moment T and the capacities of care. Beyond the cessation of fighting, it will be necessary for the medical networks in Ukraine to be able to take care of these patients. [Editor’s note, it was moreover to sign a cooperation agreement for the reconstruction of medical infrastructure that Minister François Braun traveled to Ukraine.]
