By KYIV. Jan 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Demand for diagnostics and endoscopic examinations has decreased uncritically since the beginning of a full-scale war, but the financial factor had a significant impact on the decline in demand, according to experts interviewed by Interfax-Ukraine.
“At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, for objective reasons, demand for medical services, among which diagnostics plays a significant role, decreased. However, unlike other areas, the direction of medical services in relatively safe regions of the country did not have critical consequences. Obviously, this is due to a large number of temporarily displaced people, including many children and young working people,” Yaroslav Mudry, an endoscopist at the Leleka multidisciplinary medical center, says.
At the same time, according to his assessment, “amid general inflation, the cost of endoscopic diagnostics has also increased.”
He noted that, as before the full-scale war, Ukrainians turning to medical institutions for diagnostics are most often caused by symptoms of pre-existing diseases, or control observations after treatment, in particular, control after tumor removal or diagnosis of a tumor in the later stages.
“Unfortunately, the level of preventive diagnostics and examination is extremely low,” Mudry said.
He, in particular, noted that in Ukraine, compared to other European countries, the number of patients with colorectal cancer, which most often has no symptoms, remains quite high, however, “there is currently a positive trend, we see an increase in the number of cases of early diagnostics (screening colonoscopy).”
“I am convinced that this situation looks optimistic,” the endoscopist said.
At the same time, Mudry emphasized that Leleka uses “all possible factors to increase the level of effective diagnosis of formations (colon polyps), which, in turn, will reduce the level of new cases of colorectal cancer.”
The clinic’s specialists help patients at the most difficult stage – preparation for the procedure, which makes it possible to improve the quality of diagnosis, and during the examination they use additional accessories, and use disposable consumables to remove tumors.
For her part, Liudmyla Svatko, head of the diagnostic service of the Adonis medical group, also noted that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, “we felt a decrease in the flow of patients, but this was more due to the evacuation, but with the return of the population, the need for diagnostics increased, even increased due to the exacerbation of problems with health due to stress and adverse conditions.”
“We are back to pre-war utilization levels in our diagnostic departments, and we are even seeing increasing demand,” she said.
According to her, currently the greatest demand among the population is MRI of the head, cervical and lumbar spine, and studies of the knee joints.
In addition, thanks to the active cooperation of Adonis with charitable foundations, the clinic conducts a significant amount of examination related to military injuries, in particular, the consequences of concussion, trauma, identification of shrapnel, as well as research related to preparation for further rehabilitation in the clinic.
In addition, Adonis notes an increase in demand for mammography and MRI of the breast among women, which doctors associate with the constant stress that Ukrainian women are under.
At the same time, Svatko noted that studies using large medical equipment, in particular CT and MRI, are key for diagnosing the wounded and continue to remain in demand among the examination population.
“Unfortunately, we note the fact that patients have begun to undergo annual examinations untimely due to movement and are turning with more serious diseases that require more complex studies,” she said.
At the same time, Svatko noted that Adonis is one of the few medical networks that have not stopped working since the beginning of the war and can always provide qualified medical care.
“Our diagnostic equipment is fully self-powered in the event of a power or water outage, so we can see patients without a drop in turnover, regardless of the circumstances,” she said.
At the same time, according to Svatko, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the cost of servicing imported large medical equipment has increased.
“Now the service takes up a large part of the budget, we wait longer for repairs, as it is related to logistics and the situation with carriers on the border with Europe. It has become more difficult to maintain equipment,” she said.
