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Ukraine

WHO Country Office in Ukraine, 2022 report

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Foreword

The Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine, beginning on the morning of 24 February 2022, triggered one of the largest crises in Europe since the end of the Second World War. The toll of human suffering has been immense. While those at the WHO County Office in Ukraine shared the initial shock of the war, our team has been working to respond to this crisis from day one, supporting the country in addressing its most urgent health needs, while committing our unwavering support to Ukraine’s health-care workers, health-care facilities and services during this exceptionally trying period.

The response to the war in Ukraine has demonstrated the very best of WHO’s three levels of organization, driven by the leadership of WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and the Regional Director for Europe Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, while also supporting the surge of hundreds of staff and specialists from across WHO to save lives and strengthen health systems.

WHO’s response to the onset of the war was swift. Our experience gained from many years working within the country, especially in recent years in our joint work with the Government of Ukraine and numerous partners in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with work completed on preparedness activities months prior to the escalation, allowed WHO to provide support from the first days of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In 2022 WHO supplies were dispatched to nearly 700 health facilities in 25 oblasts, varying from medical supplies to much needed generators and ambulances. Such a response would not be possible without the generosity and investment of our many partners and donors, contributing through WHO’s Emergency Appeal, the interagency Ukraine Flash Appeal and other partnerships. The activities are described in the section 2 of the report.

The resilience of the Ukrainian health-care system also relies on important health programmes that aim to achieve universal health coverage and a healthier population; all working towards strengthening health systems and ensuring a strong recovery. These programmes include health governance, health financing, public health and preparedness activities and are covered in section 3 of this report.

Such a perspective, balancing short- and long-term goals, is essential even during war. The long-term impacts of the war in Ukraine include destroyed health facilities, difficulties in managing large population movements, the effect on the health budget, increasing risk factors for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and the effect of the war on the mental health of people in Ukraine. These effects will be even more severe unless the systemic transformation of Ukraine’s health-care system continues to be supported and invested in, to build the system back, and build it back better. WHO will continue to support the country’s health reforms packaged under the National Health Strategy 2030.

All Ukrainians can be proud of how Ukraine’s health-care system has remained remarkably resilient given the demands being placed on it by the war. This can be attributed to work that had been undertaken in the years leading up to the current crisis. A health reform process has been ongoing in Ukraine since 2015, with many successful reforms implemented, from health financing to primary health care and to digital health reforms to the public health system. An important cornerstone of reform is that it is achieved through institutions. In Ukraine, these include the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU), the Central Procurement Agency, the Ukrainian Public Health Centre (UPHC) among others, which supported the establishment of new practices to govern the health system.

A huge number of partners have worked together to reform the system: the Government of Ukraine, WHO, United Nations agencies, other international organizations, many national and international health nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and experts within the public health system in Ukraine. WHO will continue contributing to work towards the long-term development of Ukraine’s health-care system in 2023, despite the war.

In 2022, the WHO Country Office has made significant strides in its growth and operational improvements, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to excellence in health services. We have grown from 100 to nearly 300 personnel in our effort to support Ukraine, based in various locations. While we have lost some of our field offices due to hostilities, others have opened to ensure our presence where we are needed. A wide range of health experts are now in Ukraine, making a difference. We have successfully established and reinforced dedicated internal support teams that encompass crucial areas of our work, including personnel health and well-being; security; preventing and responding to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (PRSEAH); communications and visibility; and programme management. These units, covered in section 4 of this report, work closely with our entire personnel, diligently integrating principles and actions that prioritize safety, security, visibility and effectiveness into all WHO initiatives in Ukraine.

On behalf of the WHO County Office in Ukraine, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our partners that supported the emergency health response in Ukraine in 2022. We thank Ukraine’s health workforce, which continues to deliver health care, often under incredibly difficult circumstances. WHO will continue to support that work by providing essential elements to Ukraine’s health-care system, whether that be emergency supplies, direct services or technical and policy advice, now and into the future. WHO’s agenda moving forward will be for the emergency response, early recovery efforts and health sector reforms, all to be addressed simultaneously to improve the health system in Ukraine.

Dr Jarno Habicht

WHO Representative and Head of the Country Office in Ukraine