Event highlights
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the WHO Country Office in Ukraine brought together members of the diplomatic community in Kyiv on 29 April for a high-level briefing on Ukraine’s health system. The session highlighted progress across emergency response, recovery and health system reform, and called on international partners to sustain their support as the country entered its fifth year of full-scale war.
A health system under attack
The scale of the challenge is significant. Since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, WHO has verified 2985 attacks on health in Ukraine – damaging hospitals, ambulances and primary health care facilities, and killing and injuring health-care workers. In 2025, attacks on Ukraine’s health care increased by 20%, compared to 2024. Despite this, Ukraine’s health system has continued to function, supported by the dedication of its health workforce and sustained international assistance.
“Daily shelling, the destruction of health-care infrastructure and growing humanitarian needs – these are the conditions in which Ukraine’s health-care system has been operating since the beginning of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion. According to the latest estimates, the cost of rebuilding the health-care sector over the next 10 years has already reached US$ 23.6 billion. Despite these challenges, we are not only responding to them but also continuing to implement systemic reforms within the country. In particular, we are strengthening areas of care where demand is increasing – especially mental health, rehabilitation and trauma care. We are grateful to WHO for its consistent support in advancing these efforts” – Viktor Liashko, Minister of Health of Ukraine.
The minister highlighted the value of WHO’s technical expertise in advancing health reforms, strengthening emergency preparedness and supporting Ukraine’s path towards European Union (EU) integration. Ukraine has formally adopted its National Health Strategy 2030, the country’s first official national health strategy, providing a road map for universal health coverage and EU alignment. He also noted Ukraine’s active role in WHO’s governing bodies, including representation on the Executive Board and the Standing Committee of the Regional Committee for Europe, through which Ukraine shapes international health policy.
From emergency response to reform
WHO has been present in Ukraine since 1994, working alongside government institutions to strengthen the health system. Since the full-scale invasion, that work has operated across 3 tracks simultaneously: responding to urgent health needs, restoring disrupted services and driving the institutional reforms that will define Ukraine’s health system for decades to come.
In 2025, a total of 1.9 million people were reached with various health interventions. In the same year, WHO delivered 320 metric tonnes of medical supplies to 954 health facilities across Ukraine via 41 interagency convoys, including 40 WHO bilateral deliveries and partner deliveries.
WHO works closely with national authorities, United Nations agencies and partners to align the health response with community needs. Through the WHO-led Health Cluster, more than 212 actors coordinate assessments, share information and align activities. WHO is supporting with medical supplies and ensuring services are available at evacuation and transition points for internally displaced people.
To strengthen emergency preparedness and response capacity, various trainings were organized and completed by more than 3000 health workers in 2025 – on topics including mass casualty management; trauma care; chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents; and emergency response coordination – so that medical staff are better prepared to respond to sudden surges of patients during attacks or other emergencies.
WHO provided heating equipment, power inverters, water stations and other water-supply solutions to ensure health-care services continued even during power outages or harsh winter conditions. To support health-care recovery, WHO has established, since 2023, 58 prefabricated modular units (46 primary health care and 12 emergency medical services) in regions where fixed infrastructure had been destroyed, covering approximately 328 000 people.
Progress on reform has continued in parallel. In January 2025, Ukraine adopted a new mental health law – the first of its kind in the country – formally integrating mental health across health, education, social protection and veterans’ services. About 1.5 million people have received mental health care through their family doctor since 2022.
In Ukraine, WHO is actively involved in the broader health system – including prevention and treatment of noncommunicable diseases, vaccine provision, laboratory upgrades and much more. One particular focus is health financing, with emphasis on ensuring that limited resources are used efficiently, transparently and where they are most needed, particularly in the context of war.
“Carrying out WHO’s health mission during active hostilities requires more than health expertise – it takes trust, coordination and committed partnerships. Our work covers mental health, rehabilitation, disease prevention and health system strengthening – as well as emergency response to keep hospitals and primary care operational and resilient, and to reach the most vulnerable communities. It moves forward every day because of those partnerships. We thank Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the opportunity to share this progress with the diplomatic community” – Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative and Head of the WHO Country Office in Ukraine.
A coordinated international response
WHO’s work in Ukraine is embedded within the broader United Nations response. As the lead agency for the health outcome of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2025–2029, WHO works alongside the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Population Fund and other United Nations agencies to ensure that health interventions align with Ukraine’s wider recovery and development priorities.
“With WHO in the lead, the United Nations works to ensure that our support for health services and care fits well with broader humanitarian and development efforts and the priorities of the Ukrainian Government. People and their needs come first, and we must ensure that no one is left behind” – Matthias Schmale, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine.
WHO’s cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also played a key role in enabling effective operations in a complex environment, ensuring that staff accreditation and operational logistics are managed in a way that allows assistance to reach people who need it most.
Sustained support is essential
Participants at the briefing were called on to anchor their support within Ukraine’s 3 strategic frameworks: the National Health Strategy 2030, WHO’s Country Cooperation Strategy for Ukraine 2024–2030, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2025–2029. These frameworks ensure that international assistance is coordinated, targeted and aligned with Ukraine’s own priorities.
As Ukraine continues to manage the demands of war while advancing ambitious health reforms, sustained and predictable international partnership remains essential. The health system’s resilience, as it enters its fifth year of war, is a foundation worth building on – and one that requires continued investment to protect.