Business news from Ukraine

Doctors note an increase in the number of preventive examinations and referrals related to advanced forms of diseases.

“We are now seeing an increase in the number of preventive examinations in various areas. At the same time, we have a situation with surgical interventions for more advanced forms of problems,” Vadym Zukin, chief operating officer of the Leleka multidisciplinary medical center, told Interfax-Ukraine.

He emphasized that “in 2022, many Ukrainians cared less about their health for obvious reasons.”

“We are already feeling the negative impact of the war on public health. This applies even to those who were not directly affected by the war,” said the director of the medical center.

Zukin also noted that the clinic has seen an increase in demand for pregnancy management services.

“We predict that compared to the first half of 2023, the number of births in Kyiv will gradually increase over the next six months and in early 2024, but these figures will be quite far from the pre-war levels,” he said.

At the same time, according to Zukin, Ukraine currently has a “very strange situation with vaccination,” in particular due to a shortage of vaccines.

“Everyone recognizes that it is useful, patients are willing to pay for it themselves, but there is a significant shortage of many vaccines in Ukraine,” he said.

Commenting on the prospects for regional development, particularly in the de-occupied regions, Zukin noted that he currently sees no opportunities for regional development.

“Opening regional branches of the medical center requires significant investments. Moreover, our institution is 99% funded by patients’ donations. At the same time, we need to understand that quality medicine is quite expensive. Therefore, despite our great desire to help the population of the de-occupied territories, it is too early to talk about opening branches there,” he said.

At the same time, Zukin believes that “under the current conditions, it is impossible to launch medical institutions as serious market players in those areas.”

Commenting on the effectiveness of private clinics’ participation in the national healthcare system, Zukin noted that “private medicine can be very useful for the general healthcare system due to its high management efficiency and flexibility.”

In turn, Vadym Shekman, CEO of Dobrobut Medical Network, said that one of the recent trends is that “medicine, which used to develop more actively in Kyiv, is now developing in Ukrainian regions, because there is a demand for quality medicine everywhere.”

“We are looking at this carefully not only from the perspective of potential acquisition of interesting institutions, but also from the perspective of possible partnership with regional clinics for which we can be a center of expertise. In fact, our goal and dream is to build a medical network of such a scale that high-quality medical care will be available to Ukrainians wherever they are,” he said.

Mr. Shekman noted that Dobrobut Medical Network “has always seen itself as a national player.”

“The plans to enter other cities with medical centers remain in force. The war has made adjustments to these plans, they have shifted slightly in time. We will realize these intentions after our victory,” he said.

At the same time, commenting on the possible prospects of opening clinics in the de-occupied regions, Shekman noted that “private medicine implies that a person has to pay for medical services out of his or her own pocket, and accordingly, the appropriate economic situation should be created in the de-occupied cities.”

“We would be happy to open in the liberated Ukrainian territories as soon as the opportunity arises,” he said.

In general, Shekman believes that “it is impossible to create a high-quality medical system without involving business.”

“Our state simply will not have enough money in the budget to rebuild and create the healthcare system we need. Healthcare in the world is becoming more expensive every day, and we must be ready to meet these challenges. Today, private healthcare is developing in Ukraine because there is a demand for quality healthcare and services. It cannot be said that many private healthcare facilities are now working with the NHSU, as the packages it offers do not include all costs and are lower than the cost of private clinics,” he said.

Mr. Shekman emphasized the importance of the fact that “the state has started to move towards private business.”

“To attract foreign investment, we need to create a system that is attractive to investors, so that they understand not only what to invest in, but also how they can get their money back. And this does not mean that healthcare will be exclusively paid for – in the context of competition, the cost of services usually decreases. And today, let’s be honest, there is no free medicine in Ukraine,” he said.

For his part, Serhiy Katsan, deputy director of the Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine (Odesa) for Scientific and Medical Work, noted that recent trends include the consequences of an increase in the number of patients admitted to the clinic “with advanced stages of eye diseases, with complications, which further leads to longer treatment periods, inability to overcome the disease with therapeutic methods, and the need for surgical treatment…”.

“First of all, this concerns patients with inflammatory diseases of the eye and ophthalmic oncology. The number of patients in the department of microsurgical treatment of children’s eye diseases has also increased,” he said.