The delegation, led by Swecare, included representatives from the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, the National Board of Health and Welfare, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, ReAct, Uppsala University, and five Swedish companies already active in supporting Ukraine’s medical profession and healthcare system. The visit included participation in ReHealth, a major healthcare conference and exhibition in Kyiv, held as Ukraine’s health system remains under exceptionally high strain after more than four years of full-scale war.

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After more than four years of full-scale war waged by Russia in Ukraine, Ukrainians’ physical and mental health – and the entire healthcare system – are under extreme pressure. Today, relief efforts focus on knowledge transfer, new ways of managing and operating healthcare, and long-term partnerships, while also drawing lessons from Ukraine’s own resilience, crisis responses, and rehabilitation solutions.

Despite the visit coinciding with one of Kyiv’s hardest stretches in a long time, it became both a strong symbol of Swedish support and an opportunity to deepen ties with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health and institutions including the Medical Procurement of Ukraine, the National Cancer Institute, the national agency ZDOROVI, and the Protez Hub Foundation. The delegation also met with the leadership of several major regional hospitals. In the Swedish pavilion, discussions covered continued collaboration on training in techniques for controlling severe internal bleeding, coordinated hospital response training for mass casualty events, and partnerships in surgery, infection control, and radiation oncology.

It only strengthens our resolve to keep doing this work together.

“We had been planning this visit for a long time, so it felt almost surreal to finally make the trip. We’ve welcomed our Ukrainian partners to Sweden many times, but being in Kyiv ourselves, meeting the commitment and determination there in the middle of some of the hardest days in a long time, was something special. It only strengthens our resolve to keep doing this work together,” says Maria Helling, CEO of Swecare.

Ukraine ReHealth 2026. Photo: Swecare

The program was arranged by Swecare together with the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, the National Board of Health and Welfare, Ukraine’s Ministry of Health, and Medical Procurement of Ukraine, in cooperation with Impact Bridge LLC, the organizer of ReHealth.

This trip is also a symbol that Sweden truly stands by Ukraine, in word and in action.

“Meeting our partners in Ukraine matters enormously – we’ve launched many Ukrainian-Swedish initiatives over the 2.5 years of the Swedish Support to Sustainable Healthcare in Ukraine project, and we were glad to hear about their progress in person. But this trip is also a symbol that Sweden truly stands by Ukraine, in word and in action,” says Kateryna Pavelko, Ukraine project manager, Swecare.

Seven Ukrainian delegations are scheduled to visit Sweden this fall as part of the project, covering areas from prosthetics supply and infection control to healthcare management and nuclear medicine.