Why Ukrainian Patients Are Dying, According to Doctor Holubovska

Ukraine's Healthcare System Under Fire

According to Radiotrek — Світ: On July 10, 2026, Radio Track published an opinion piece by infectious disease specialist Olga Holubovska, sharply criticizing Ukraine's healthcare system. The article was later shared on Facebook by Rivne doctor Lyubomyr Oleksyuk, a former head of the Rivne City Health Department and an activist with the People's Movement of Ukraine. In her piece, Holubovska highlights several critical issues patients face, including financial burdens, bureaucratic hurdles, and limited access to care in rural areas.

Patient Struggles and Red Tape

Holubovska, a Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor, and Honored Doctor of Ukraine, describes how patients must navigate a nine-circle bureaucratic nightmare just to receive medical help. She points out that many people in villages and district centers have to travel dozens or even hundreds of kilometers to reach a hospital.

“A person in a village or district center has to wait in virtual and real queues, find transportation, and travel tens or even hundreds of kilometers to a consolidated hospital,” - Olga Holubovska.

She also notes that the healthcare system only remembers patients when their condition is critical, such as in cases of cardiogenic shock or terminal cancer. “The system doesn't recall the patient when the disease can be detected early, treated in time, or halted-only when an ambulance brings them in,” she writes.

The doctor emphasizes the dual crisis of poverty and an aging population in Ukraine. “Poverty combined with rapid societal aging is no longer just a socio-economic issue. It is an independent, leading risk factor for the nation's health and a matter of national security,” she states. The column also highlights that many patients cannot afford treatment, leading to a grim reality: “Patients are dying because they lack the money to live, and they don't believe they can handle the cost of care.”

Holubovska argues that the so-called free packages offered by the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU) are disconnected from reality, as patients still have to pay for everything from syringes to expensive antibiotics. “Years of these experiments on medicine have simply destroyed people's trust,” she adds. She calls for a fundamental shift in healthcare policy, warning that “leaving an aging nation to fend for itself with poverty and commercialized medicine is not just short-sighted-it's social cynicism.”

Overall, Holubovska's piece on Radio Track serves as a crucial voice highlighting the urgent problems in Ukrainian medicine that demand immediate action.

Her words underscore the severity of the challenges facing Ukraine's healthcare system, particularly for vulnerable populations. The column is a call to action for both the state and society to improve access to medical services, which is vital for the nation's health. With an aging population and rising poverty rates, these issues require urgent responses and comprehensive healthcare reforms.