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Ukraine’s nurses face brutal winter as health austerity collides with war

Key workers told openDemocracy they are being paid months late or not in full due to a controversial healthcare reform

Ukraine’s nurses face brutal winter as health austerity collides with war
Since February, the World Health Organisation has counted 703 attacks by Russia on Ukrainian healthcare facilities | (c) Sipa US / Alamy Stock Photo. All rights reserved
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Ukraine’s healthcare workers are going unpaid as the effects of pre-war healthcare reform hit wages and job security in an economy ravaged by Russian invasion.

Medical staff around the country have told openDemocracy that they have not received their wages in recent months – the result of an internal market reform that began in 2018.

In July, Ukraine’s Ministry of Health decided that hospitals outside of conflict zones would be paid only for the services they provide to patients – overriding a guarantee given immediately after the Russian invasion that hospitals would receive one twelfth of their annual income every month.