Effects of war in Ukraine will lead to rise in disease, early fatality

High levels of psychological stress during wartime, deteriorating medical services, and limited access to healthcare in Ukraine are leading to a sharp rise in health conditions across the country two years after Russia launched its full-scale war. 

Cancer diagnoses are being delayed, cardiovascular diseases have already led to a steep rise in fatal strokes and pulmonary issues could be caused or worsened by the noxious substances amid the fallout from explosions. 

The mounting health crisis has been stressed by Viktor Liashko, Ukraine’s health minister, who told a Ukrainian news outlet that the effects of the war will lead to a sharp increase in non-communicable diseases.

“Today, potentially, all people in Ukraine who are experiencing the consequences of the war have aged by 10-15 years,” Liashko said in an interview with a Ukrainian news outlet shortly after February 2022. “Older is a relative term, because the diseases that (are contracted) at the age of 60, will now (be contracted) at the age of 45-50.”

In 2023, strokes in Ukraine increased by 16% compared to the previous year, according to the health ministry. A mental health crisis is also gripping the war-afflicted country.

Non-communicable diseases – ones that aren’t caused by things such as infection but rather the impact of lifestyles and behaviours – are already the main cause of premature death in Ukraine. In 2022, the year Russia fully invaded Ukraine, the majority of deaths in the country were caused by cardiovascular disease, according to Liashko.

Cancer was the second cause of death, which was likely due to people not having easy access to regular screening tests to catch the disease early.

Iryna Soroka, the Head of the Department for the Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases in Kyiv, told Context in an interview that one of the main risk factors in developing non-communicable diseases during the war is poor nutrition. 

“Many people do not have permanent housing or appropriate infrastructure. People often eat what they have,” she said. “When people eat unhealthy food, their cholesterol levels rise – and this has a significant impact on the human body.”

Soroka noted that stress can also play a role in driving people toward unhealthy behaviours such as excessive consumption of unhealthy foods, smoking, and alcohol, as well as preventing people from getting enough physical exercise.  

Studies on conflicts in other countries show that at least 20% of people in a war zone will at some point experience a mental health challenge, and around 10% will go on to develop a moderate to severe illness.

After the full-scale war started, Tetyana Tsyoka, a resident of the Zhytomyr region, began taking sedatives and sleeping pills to cope with the mental stress she was facing. “During the air raids, I kept waking up, my blood pressure often rose, I felt anxious and afraid,” the 41-year-old told Context. “I started to get headaches and … heart palpitations.”

Tsyoka said that the constant panic and stress also caused her to lose her appetite for food. “Now I’m taking a course of medication to cope with this,” she said. 

The war in Ukraine has drastically disrupted cancer prevention schemes which is expected to lead to an increase in the disease.

“During the war, all chronic diseases, including cancer, are definitely exacerbated … we can expect an acceleration in the development of cancer,” said Konstantin Kopchak, the Deputy Director of Dobrobut Medical Network, during roundtable discussions between Ukrainian doctors. Interruptions in treatment and delayed diagnosis, he said, will exacerbate the situation.

Anna Uzlova, the director and co-founder of the cancer charity foundation, Inspiration Family, said that cancer is being detected later in areas that are or were occupied by Russian forces because people had limited access to medical facilities.

“Due to the active hostilities and living in constant fear, people paid less attention to symptoms that bothered them,” she said. “There was an increase in late-stage cancer cases in the de-occupied territories, namely in Kherson and Kharkiv regions.”

Uzlova added that the medical community is also expecting to see an increase in cancer among military personnel. “There are certain contacts with carcinogenic and chemical substances that can affect the lungs … and increase contact with smoke,” she said. “There is also more contact with blood, which increases the risk of certain viral diseases that can cause certain types of cancer in the future.”

Otto Stoyka, a doctor at the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases in Kyiv, told Context that being in close proximity to shell explosions can also harm people’s health, notably their respiratory systems. 

“Toxic substances are released, such as nitrates, carbon monoxide, and various heavy metals. They affect and poison the human respiratory tract and mucous membranes,” he said, adding that: “We need to pay great attention to children, they are in great danger because they have an imperfect and much more vulnerable respiratory system.”