The need for palliative and hospice care in Ukraine in 2018–2020

Abstract

The provision of palliative and hospice care (PHC) is associated with significant material costs of the budgetary funding of countries, provided that these countries pay the necessary attention to these types of care. Ukraine strives for a model of increasing PHC coverage of those categories of patients recommended by WHO as best practices. This is especially important in the context of the growing number of patients in need of PHC both in Ukraine and around the world. The purpose of the study is to determine the need for the main types of PHC for the population of Ukraine in 2018–2020 according to the methodology proposed by the Ukrainian Center for Public Data. The methodology involves the use of data from national statistics centers (the State Statistics Service of Ukraine and the Center for Medical Statistics of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine), national cancer and tuberculosis registries (mainly on the number of deaths and those discharged from hospitals with the corresponding diagnosis), to which empirical coefficients from 0.2 to 0.9 are applied, determined by experts. As a result of the research, we determined the absolute values and trends regarding the need for the main PHC types for adults and children of Ukraine in 2018–2020. The need in absolute values among adults was 227,143; 212,199 and 190,179; among children – 61,355; 49,002 and 45,357; respectively. The greatest need for PHC among adults during this period was noted for malignant neoplasms and cardiovascular diseases, and among children – for congenital malformations, certain perinatal conditions, cerebral palsy, and malignant neoplasms. The overall need for PHC had a steady downward trend both among adults (by 16.27%) and among children (by 26.07%). The largest relative declines among adults during this period were recorded for rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS, and among children – for congenital malformations, inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system, and cardiovascular diseases. Keywords: palliative and hospice care for children, palliative and hospice care for adults, PHC, state medical statistics.