Preparing Ukraine’s Health Care System for the Transition from Wartime to Peacetime: International Experience in Postwar Recovery, Medical Rehabilitation, and Institutional Reform

On October 22, 2026, the Coordinator-General of Global Citizens will participate in a closed-door online roundtable on “Preparing Ukraine’s Health Care System for the Transition from Wartime to Peacetime: International Experience in Postwar Recovery, Medical Rehabilitation, and Institutional Reform.”

Representatives of the medical communities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries have been invited to take part in the discussion. Their expert contributions played a significant role in preparing the documentation required for the state registration in Ukraine of the independent nongovernmental research institution Institute for Public Health, Medical Law and Policy.

One of the priority areas of work for Institute for Public Health, Medical Law and Policy will be to study international experience and develop a scientifically grounded framework for establishing a specialized ecosystem consisting of an institutionally distinct health care system for armed forces veterans. The framework is expected to be based on a unified organizational model integrating diagnosis, treatment, medical rehabilitation, and the provision of medicines through dedicated clinical standards and mechanisms for long-term follow-up.

Particular emphasis in the system of specialized medical care for armed forces veterans should be placed on psychiatry, addiction medicine, neurology, and cardiology, as well as oral and maxillofacial surgery and dentistry. Reconstructive and plastic surgical procedures aimed at addressing the consequences of combat injuries, correcting post-traumatic defects and deformities, and restoring impaired functions and the aesthetic features of the face warrant separate attention. The organization of care in these fields should be based on interdisciplinary cooperation among specialists and a comprehensive assessment of patients’ functional, psychological, and social needs, with due regard for the need to enable their full return to everyday life.

During previous expert consultations, agreement was reached on the need for a comparative study of international experience in three interrelated areas of decisive importance to establishing a specialized health care ecosystem for armed forces veterans in Ukraine.

The first area involves studying the experience of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Germany, and Japan in restoring medical infrastructure following armed conflicts, with particular attention to the establishment of specialized treatment facilities, the organization of their operations, and the provision of the necessary equipment and supplies.

The second area covers the experience of Croatia, the United States, and the United Kingdom in organizing medical and psychological rehabilitation for veterans. Particular importance is attached to studying mechanisms for continuity across the various stages of treatment and rehabilitation, as well as the organization of long-term medical follow-up within a unified health care system.

The third area involves analyzing the experience of Germany, Japan, Rwanda, and Cambodia in sustainable health care financing, the management of medical institutions, and the training and retraining of medical and pharmaceutical personnel, with a view to identifying the organizational, legal, and economic mechanisms through which a specialized system of medical care for veterans can operate.

The results of the comparative analysis, including findings on the effectiveness of the solutions adopted and the shortcomings identified, are expected to inform the development of an organizational model for the specialized ecosystem, taking into account the medical needs of Ukraine’s armed forces veterans, national legislation, and the resources available.

The framework to be developed should include, as an integral component, legal safeguards for the professional activities of medical and pharmaceutical workers. The quality, safety, and continuity of specialized medical care for armed forces veterans, as well as medical care for the population as a whole, depend directly on the implementation of these safeguards. Particular attention should be given to ensuring a decent level of pay and professional autonomy within the established scope of practice, as well as protecting specialists against violence, discrimination, and unlawful interference in their work. In addition to enshrining these safeguards in law and regulation, effective legal and organizational mechanisms for their practical implementation must be provided. The protection of the professional rights and legitimate interests of medical and pharmaceutical workers should be regarded as a necessary condition for preserving workforce capacity, ensuring the sustainable operation of the specialized ecosystem, and maintaining an appropriate standard of medical care and pharmaceutical services for veterans.

Preparations to establish a specialized health care ecosystem for Ukraine’s armed forces veterans must begin today, as its establishment will require long-term strategic planning, the development of scientifically grounded organizational solutions, and the building of the necessary capacity in personnel, financing, infrastructure, and equipment. The extensive experience of the United States and the United Kingdom in organizing medical care, improving clinical practice, and assessing the effectiveness of decisions is of particular importance to this work. At the same time, Ukraine’s circumstances require preparatory measures to be undertaken while hostilities continue, accompanied by the destruction of medical infrastructure and significant constraints on available resources. The establishment of a specialized system of medical care for veterans should be regarded as one area of Ukraine’s postwar health care recovery. This requires the sequence of reforms to be determined in advance and aligned with the broader tasks of restoring the health care system while maintaining the accessibility, quality, and continuity of medical care.