Patients first: Ukraine war puts health industry on notice

Thomas Dobmeyer, chief executive of PharmaLex, provides an Expert View on how determination and innovation are key to ensuring medicines reach those in need and research is not disrupted during wartime.

Nearly six months after the start of the war in Ukraine and the country’s healthcare system is under severe strain. The death toll keeps rising and millions have been made homeless. War has had a devastating impact on patients due to issues around access to medicines and essential equipment.

For those patients with chronic conditions, disruptions in the supply of medicine or treatment can be life threatening. According to a World Health Organization survey, two in five Ukrainian households have at least one person living with a chronic illness and about a third of those have struggled to get access to the care they need since the war started. There have been shortages of diagnostics, pharmaceuticals and vaccines, all severely impacting healthcare in the country.