Sweden strengthens Ukraine’s health and medical care through partnership and Swedish expertise

“A functioning health care system is crucial for Ukraine’s resilience, recovery and reconstruction. Through the support to Swecare, we are strengthening collaboration between Swedish and Ukrainian actors in the health and medical care sector, and at the same time contributing to Ukraine’s reform initiatives and path towards EU membership. These partnerships also represent an important opportunity for Sweden to learn from Ukraine’s experience of providing health and medical care at times of crisis and war,” says Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa.

“Ukraine and Sweden cooperate well and have a lot to learn from each other in the health and medical care area, not least in efforts to counteract antibiotic resistance. The support through Swecare is a key part of that cooperation – making use of experience and knowledge from both the business sector and the public sector,” says Minister for Health and Social Affairs Jakob Forssmed.

“Sweden will support Ukraine for as long as it takes. This includes support to the front line, but also elsewhere. Through a deeper partnership in the health care area, we can provide tangible help to people in a very vulnerable situation,” says Minister for Education Simona Mohamsson.

The initiative will help strengthen Ukraine’s capacity in several priority areas, including cancer care, rehabilitation and prosthetic care, infection prevention, countering antibiotic resistance and hospital management. Amongst other things, the support will help establish a major training programme for Ukrainian health care professionals in radiation therapy.

The initiative is being implemented by the Swecare Foundation, which through its network brings together Swedish government agencies, regions, health care actors, academia and life science companies to support Ukraine’s reconstruction and development. It builds on previous Swedish health care initiatives in Ukraine and aims to create long-term partnerships between Swedish and Ukrainian actors.