HUMAN RESOURCES OF HEALTHCARE IN UKRAINE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND WAR

Introduction. The shortage of human resources is now a global problem that has become particularly acute in all countries in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This leads to a forced reduction in medical services and inadequate quality of care. Aim. To analyze the human resources for health in U...

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Main Authors: Oleksandr P. Volosovets, Dmytro D. Diachuk, Igor A. Lurin, Oleksandr M. Naumenko, Valentin D. Pariy, Anton O. Volosovets
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: State Institution of Science «Research and Practical Center of Preventive and Clinical Medicine» State Administrative Department 2025-01-01
Series:Клінічна та профілактична медицина
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Online Access:https://cp-medical.com/index.php/journal/article/view/522
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author Oleksandr P. Volosovets
Dmytro D. Diachuk
Igor A. Lurin
Oleksandr M. Naumenko
Valentin D. Pariy
Anton O. Volosovets
author_facet Oleksandr P. Volosovets
Dmytro D. Diachuk
Igor A. Lurin
Oleksandr M. Naumenko
Valentin D. Pariy
Anton O. Volosovets
author_sort Oleksandr P. Volosovets
collection DOAJ
description Introduction. The shortage of human resources is now a global problem that has become particularly acute in all countries in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This leads to a forced reduction in medical services and inadequate quality of care. Aim. To analyze the human resources for health in Ukraine in the context of the ongoing war and pandemic, and to identify the regions of the country and specialties of physicians and residents most affected by the current challenges. Materials and methods. Methods of systematic approach, statistical, epidemiological analysis, graphical representation for comparative data evaluation were used from the Public Health Centre of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine for 2020-2023. Results. In the last years of pandemic and war, the total number of physicians in Ukraine (including specialists of private and departmental health care institutions) has decreased by 19.4 thousand people or 10.8% to 160.2 thousand, and the number of junior medical staff has decreased even more – by 51.2 thousand people or 16.6% and now amounts to 257.5 thousand. As of December 31, 2023, 133,237 doctors and 229,368 junior doctors with medical education were employed in the health care institutions of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. Over the past four years, the number of general practitioners has fallen to 23.4 per 10,000 population (24.2 per 10,000 population in 2020) (p˃0.05) and the number of young specialists to 55.9 per 10,000 population (66.04 per 10,000 population in 2020) (p<0.01), which is significantly lower than the European average. Significant losses of health professionals are observed in the Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk, Odesa and Kharkiv regions, which are the most affected by the war. The number of dentists, health organisers, general practitioners, pediatricians, family doctors, obstetricians and gynecologists, phthisiologists, physiotherapists, neurologists, and dermatovenerologists has decreased the most during the pandemic and war in Ukraine. The restoration of human resources through medical training is limited by a decrease in the number of interns by 2,475 over the past 4 years and a reduction in the number of state-funded admissions to higher medical education institutions to 3,000 per year. Conclusions. The healthcare staffing situation in Ukraine is inadequate and on a steady downward trend in the context of war and pandemic due to a decrease in the supply of healthcare workers, including junior doctors with medical training, which limits the population's ability to receive quality and affordable healthcare, especially in the frontline and de-occupied areas.
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spelling doaj-art-2de1c82603a0425ca2bc43c3cf8af7a32025-08-20T03:05:53ZengState Institution of Science «Research and Practical Center of Preventive and Clinical Medicine» State Administrative DepartmentКлінічна та профілактична медицина2616-48682025-01-01111713110.31612/2616-4868.1.2025.15522HUMAN RESOURCES OF HEALTHCARE IN UKRAINE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND WAROleksandr P. Volosovets0Dmytro D. Diachuk1Igor A. Lurin2Oleksandr M. Naumenko3Valentin D. Pariy4Anton O. Volosovets5Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, UkraineState Institution of Science “Center of innovative healthcare technologies” State Administrative Department, Kyiv, UkraineNational Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, UkraineBogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, UkraineBogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, UkraineShupyk National University of Healthcare of Ukraine, Kyiv, UkraineIntroduction. The shortage of human resources is now a global problem that has become particularly acute in all countries in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This leads to a forced reduction in medical services and inadequate quality of care. Aim. To analyze the human resources for health in Ukraine in the context of the ongoing war and pandemic, and to identify the regions of the country and specialties of physicians and residents most affected by the current challenges. Materials and methods. Methods of systematic approach, statistical, epidemiological analysis, graphical representation for comparative data evaluation were used from the Public Health Centre of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine for 2020-2023. Results. In the last years of pandemic and war, the total number of physicians in Ukraine (including specialists of private and departmental health care institutions) has decreased by 19.4 thousand people or 10.8% to 160.2 thousand, and the number of junior medical staff has decreased even more – by 51.2 thousand people or 16.6% and now amounts to 257.5 thousand. As of December 31, 2023, 133,237 doctors and 229,368 junior doctors with medical education were employed in the health care institutions of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. Over the past four years, the number of general practitioners has fallen to 23.4 per 10,000 population (24.2 per 10,000 population in 2020) (p˃0.05) and the number of young specialists to 55.9 per 10,000 population (66.04 per 10,000 population in 2020) (p<0.01), which is significantly lower than the European average. Significant losses of health professionals are observed in the Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk, Odesa and Kharkiv regions, which are the most affected by the war. The number of dentists, health organisers, general practitioners, pediatricians, family doctors, obstetricians and gynecologists, phthisiologists, physiotherapists, neurologists, and dermatovenerologists has decreased the most during the pandemic and war in Ukraine. The restoration of human resources through medical training is limited by a decrease in the number of interns by 2,475 over the past 4 years and a reduction in the number of state-funded admissions to higher medical education institutions to 3,000 per year. Conclusions. The healthcare staffing situation in Ukraine is inadequate and on a steady downward trend in the context of war and pandemic due to a decrease in the supply of healthcare workers, including junior doctors with medical training, which limits the population's ability to receive quality and affordable healthcare, especially in the frontline and de-occupied areas.https://cp-medical.com/index.php/journal/article/view/522shortagehuman resourceshealthcareavailability of healthcare workerswarcovid-19 pandemic
spellingShingle Oleksandr P. Volosovets
Dmytro D. Diachuk
Igor A. Lurin
Oleksandr M. Naumenko
Valentin D. Pariy
Anton O. Volosovets
HUMAN RESOURCES OF HEALTHCARE IN UKRAINE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND WAR
Клінічна та профілактична медицина
shortage
human resources
healthcare
availability of healthcare workers
war
covid-19 pandemic
title HUMAN RESOURCES OF HEALTHCARE IN UKRAINE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND WAR
title_full HUMAN RESOURCES OF HEALTHCARE IN UKRAINE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND WAR
title_fullStr HUMAN RESOURCES OF HEALTHCARE IN UKRAINE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND WAR
title_full_unstemmed HUMAN RESOURCES OF HEALTHCARE IN UKRAINE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND WAR
title_short HUMAN RESOURCES OF HEALTHCARE IN UKRAINE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND WAR
title_sort human resources of healthcare in ukraine during the covid 19 pandemic and war
topic shortage
human resources
healthcare
availability of healthcare workers
war
covid-19 pandemic
url https://cp-medical.com/index.php/journal/article/view/522
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