The World Health Organization said Friday that 1 in 3 Ukrainian households with a chronically ill person is unable to access care or medicine amid the country’s invasion by Russian forces.
In an assessment of 1,000 households in Ukraine, 39% have at least one person with a chronic health condition, such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer.
The WHO said 30% of respondents sought out health-care services recently; of those, 39% cited the security situation as the main reason, while 27% reported that no health-care services were available at all in their area.
“Two months into the war, our findings show the urgent need for continued health system support in Ukraine,” said Dr. Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative and Head of the WHO Country Office in Ukraine.
The World Health Organization noted that there have been 160 attacks on health care services in Ukraine since the war began in February.
The WHO reports that much of the health care infrastructure in the eastern portion of Ukraine has been obliterated.
“We have received reports, for instance, that nearly all health facilities and hospitals in Luhansk oblast are either damaged or destroyed, and the situation is critical in several others,” Habicht added. “It is vital that we gain access so we can assess health needs and move vital supplies into affected areas, including Mariupol. Civilians have a right to health, even in times of war.”
