Ukraine’s healthcare system needs almost $20B for recovery

This is said in a statement released by the Ukrainian Health Ministry’s press service, Ukrinform reports.

“Three years of full-scale war waged by Russia have caused significant damage to Ukraine’s healthcare system. According to the World Bank and EU estimates, the healthcare sector’s needs are now estimated at more than $19 billion. This figure is interim. However, it is clear that the healthcare system requires significant investments and their rational use,” said Health Minister Viktor Liashko.

Liashko added that strategic guidelines have been established to ensure maximum efficiency. Thus, this year the Healthcare System Development Strategy until 2030 was approved. “We have two key vectors: to ensure the system’s resilience in the face of war and at the same time to focus on recovery, combining it with reform processes and improving the efficiency of functioning in accordance with the principle of ‘better than before’,” he emphasized.

The Ministry, citing the Fourth Ukraine Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA4) report, said that the total healthcare sector’s recovery and reconstruction needs over the next ten years are estimated at $19.4 billion.

It is noted that compared to the previous RDNA3 report, the total losses in the health sector have increased by 8.9%. The need for recovery and reconstruction over the next decade has increased by 14%. In particular, the number of damaged healthcare facilities rose by 36.7%, pharmacies by 2.2%, etc.

“The largest losses were recorded in the Donetsk region (37.8% of the total cost of damage), the Kharkiv region (12.6%), the Luhansk region (12.5%), and Kherson region (7.3%), where the fighting was most intense,” the report emphasizes.

As reported by Ukrinform, according to the World Bank’s Fourth Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA4), the total cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine is $524 billion over the next decade, which is $38 billion more than previous estimates.