ANALYSIS OF TRENDS AND DETERMINANTS OF MEDICAL POVERTY IN UKRAINE

Abstract

The article analyzes the trends of medical poverty in Ukraine. International and domestic regulatory legal acts aimed at overcoming poverty are analyzed. Poverty indicators are analyzed, and its features in Ukraine are highlighted. It is established that since 2014, the percentage of poverty in Ukraine has been increasing and new forms of it are emerging, including medical poverty. It is found that during the years of full-scale invasion, changes have been made to the medical guarantees program: emphasis is placed on the distinction between inpatient, outpatient and rehabilitation care; the package “Readiness and provision of medical care to the population located in the territory where hostilities are taking place” has been introduced; medical service packages have been increased from 35 in 2021 to 44 in 2024; tariffs for rehabilitation services and surgical operations have been improved; tariffs for inpatient psychiatric care have been increased, etc. However, the growing scale of poverty and insufficient funding of the industry, as well as the absence of a health insurance model, did not restrain the negative dynamics of the increase in medical poverty in the country.
It was concluded that medical poverty was a consequence of the deterioration of living standards due to the rapid decline of the economy, corruption, inflationary processes, which are caused, including by the war, imperfect management of the industry, underfinancing of the industry, and an ineffective system of state social support.

It is proposed to consider medical poverty as a violation of the human rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine to health care, medical care and medical insurance due to the lack of the opportunity to receive necessary medical services, medical care, medical insurance services, as well as to purchase necessary medicines and medical supplies.

It is proven that medical poverty includes various forms of deprivation. These include the inability to: visit a doctor due to the high cost of medical services; visit a doctor (a specialist of the relevant profile) due to the lack of medical personnel; buy necessary medicines and medical supplies; undergo a medical examination; receive medical procedures; undergo treatment in a hospital; unavailability of emergency (ambulance) medical care services; infrastructural unavailability of medical services due to the lack of medical institutions near the home. The determinants of medical poverty are identified, which are divided into general and special.