Ukraine: Health Cluster March Bulletin

Published by Relief Web (reliefweb.int) 23 April 2025

Relief Web identifies the key takeaways from the latest Health Cluster Bulletin on the situation with healthcare in Ukraine:

Highlights

While high level ceasefire negotiations continued throughout March, hostilities showed no sign of abating. According to ACLED data, the number of air and drone strikes more than doubled in March 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, primarily affecting Kharkiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, and other front-line oblasts. Together with the Ministry of Health and partners, the Health Cluster finalized and circulated a Ceasefire Response Plan to enable rapid health service scale-up in hard-to-reach areas, should a pause in hostilities allow for increased humanitarian access.

Hostilities continued to have devastating consequences for civilians. In March, civilian casualties surged, with at least 164 civilians killed and 910 injured, as verified by the UN HRMMU. This represents a twofold increase compared to February 2025 and over a 70 per cent increase compared to March 2024. Complementing the efforts of national health authorities, Health Cluster partners provided life-saving health services to over 1,200 people by the end of March 2025. This included the provision of first aid, medical transportation to health facilities, and psychological first aid for those affected.

Evacuation efforts expanded amid deteriorating security in frontline oblasts, with a marked increase in the number of people arriving at transit centers, particularly in Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovska oblast, where arrivals have doubled compared to the beginning of the year. Health Cluster partners continued to support health authorities in the provision of primary health care and mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) at designated transit centers, reaching nearly 3,000 people since January.

Attacks on health care continue to endanger the lives of health care workers and patients, while severely disrupting the provision of essential medical services. On 19 March, three hospitals in Sumska oblast were damaged, injuring a health worker. In March alone, the Health Cluster and WHO, through the WHO SSA verified 39 attacks on health care, resulting in 13 injuries and one person killed among health workers and patients.

The health sector is experiencing significant service delivery gaps, attributed in part to the ongoing funding suspension, as highlighted in recent assessments by REACH (February 2025) and ACAPS (March 2025).

The report was published by Health Cluster Ukraine (23/04/2025), and can be found in full at: https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukraine-health-cluster-bulletin-3-march-2025)