Local foods, food-safety habits, hospital daily life, travel during treatment, the health system, language and emergency numbers from reliable sources.
Keep a translation of your diagnosis, treatment plan and medication list in this language or in English. Many hospitals offer interpreters — ask in advance.
Health system overview
A mainly state-run health system; specialised centres are concentrated in Minsk. Visitors need travel insurance.
Leukemia care: centres
Belarus
Auto + allo
Main centres
Republican Center for Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Minsk Scientific and Practical Center for Surgery, Transplantology and Hematology (adults)
Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Immunology, Borovlyany near Minsk (children)
Transplant: Both centres perform autologous and allogeneic transplants, including from unrelated donors. According to its website, the Minsk centre is the only one in Belarus that transplants adults; the children’s centre performs up to 100 transplants a year.
Good to know: The Minsk centre has a separate contact for foreign patients.
Wherever you live, the core rules with low immunity are the same: clean hands, keeping raw and cooked food apart, cooking thoroughly, chilling quickly and choosing pasteurised dairy. At local markets and street stalls, watch how food is stored. Ask your team whether tap water is fine for you; if unsure, use bottled or boiled water.
Hospital daily life
In many hospitals in this region a family member stays with the patient to help with daily care, and families often bring food from home. With low immunity, agree with the ward which food can be brought and how it should be prepared and stored. Fewer visitors, and none who are unwell, lowers the risk of infection.
Travel during treatment
Talk to your care team before planning a trip — timing, blood counts and vaccines.
Carry a doctor’s letter with your diagnosis, treatment plan and medication list (including in English).
Pack medicines in original packaging, in hand luggage, with extra; some medicines have import rules.
Get travel insurance that covers your existing condition and read the terms.
Find the nearest haematology centre and the emergency number at your destination in advance.
Live vaccines can be unsafe during treatment — ask your team before any vaccination.
Ask your team about clot risk on long flights and move around when you can.