Some 43% of the Ukrainian refugees in Moldova have or live with people with specific needs or serious medical conditions, while 5% report living with a pregnant or breastfeeding woman. The data are presented in the report “Republic of Moldova – Access to healthcare for refugees from Ukraine”, produced by IOM Moldova, IPN reports.

The report shows that the main health conditions for women include chronic diseases or serious conditions (41%), visual impairments (18%), difficulty walking (13%) and hearing impairments (6%), while the main health conditions for men include chronic diseases or serious conditions (53%), visual impairments (17%), difficulty walking (15%) and hearing impairments (7%).

In terms of access to healthcare in the Republic of Moldova, the vast majority (60%) of respondents were either indifferent or optimistic about ease of access. One in four respondents (26%) reported that it was easy for them to access medical services. Five per cent reported having encountered some difficulties in accessing healthcare services while nine per cent did not want to answer.

This highlights that, despite the generally favorable conditions, potential obstacles still exist for accessing healthcare for Ukrainian refugees residing in the Republic of Moldova.

Among those who reported some difficulties in accessing healthcare services in the Republic of Moldova (n=192), the most frequently mentioned obstacles were high costs (57%), long waiting times (33%), unavailable services (19%), the language barrier (18%), discrimination (10%) and lack of documentation (8%)

The report also shows that 86 per cent of the respondents reported having received assistance in the three months preceding the interview. Among them, one per cent received mental health and psychosocial support, which was provided mostly by UN agencies including IOM, NGOs, and religious institutions, among others.

Conversely, 31 per cent of the respondents reported having used psychological counselling or mental health support services since they had been displaced. The percentage of respondents accessing Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) services was higher among women (34%) than among men (19%).

The survey was conducted between 1 April and 22 June 2024 and covered 1,892 Ukrainian individuals living mainly in Chișinău, Ocnița, Ștefan Vodă, Cahul, Briceni, Comrat, Bălți, and Edineț.