Overview

Ukraine’s health system officially provides for a comprehensive set of publicly paid health services. Yet, availability of resources at public facilities (where care should be free at the point of service) determines whether people have to pay for care or medicines or not. Government spending on health remains low compared to the WHO European Region overall. More than half (51%) of all health spending in Ukraine in 2018 was private, almost entirely consisting of out-of-pocket payments. This leaves vulnerable groups at risk of catastrophic and impoverishing payments and undermines access to health services.

The National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU) was created in 2018 to facilitate contracting and payment arrangements with health care providers, combined with new pooling and purchasing policies. Recent reforms to the health system have aimed to strengthen primary care.

In response to the pandemic’s disruptions to the health system, Ukraine was able to continue offering primary care services and rolling out reform efforts concerning specialized levels of care.