15.12.2025
BREATHE: Internationale Zusammenarbeit für Ausbildung und Patientenversorgung
The Research Center Borstel and the V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Kharkiv, Ukraine, together with additional Ukrainian partner institutions, have launched BREATHE, a Hospital Partnership designed to strengthen respiratory and infectious disease education and clinical capacity in Ukraine amid the ongoing war.
Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion, the Ukrainian academic and healthcare systems have come under immense pressure, medical training has been severely disrupted, and the burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases has increased - making sustained international support essential. The initiative aims to reinforce medical education, stabilize clinical structures, and support healthcare professionals in Ukraine working under wartime conditions.
The project is supported through dedicated funding from the Hospital Partnerships Programme, which is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), commissioned and financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
BREATHE comprises an expanded online lecture series in infectious diseases and respiratory medicine; a weekly international multidisciplinary case discussion for complex tuberculosis (TB) and nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) patients; the organization of an annual advanced clinical course in respiratory medicine and infectious diseases in Ukraine; and yearly training for Ukrainian doctors at an international TB course in Borstel.Through BREATHE, partners aim to strengthen medical expertise, safeguard patient care, and support the resilience and future recovery of Ukraine’s healthcare system - fostering long-term capacity building, a sustainable partnership, and ongoing knowledge transfer.
"BREATHE enables us to build sustainable collaboration with colleagues in Germany and across Europe at a time when medical training in Ukraine faces unprecedented challenges. By strengthening pre- and postgraduate education, we aim to improve care for patients throughout the country." Dr. Olha Konstantynovska, FZB
Kontakt
Dr. med. Thomas Theo Brehm
FG Klinische Infektiologie
Forschungszentrum Borstel, Leibniz Lungenzentrum
Parkallee 35
23845 Borstel
"The commitment of our Ukrainian colleagues, who continue to provide patient care, research and medical teaching under extraordinarily difficult circumstances, is truly remarkable. Our Hospital Partnership initiative seeks to support their work in respiratory medicine and infectious diseases and to help strengthen the long-term resilience of Ukraine’s healthcare system." Dr. Thomas Theo Brehm, FZB
