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Comparison of healthcare in Ukraine and Poland: Selected issues regarding the social situation of Ukrainian refugees in Olsztyn and surroundings

Laura JOVELL, Bibiana GALÍ and Daniel ALCANTARILLA

After the outbreak of war in Ukraine, millions of refugees sought medical help and social support from our country. We obtained permission from the Ethics Committee to conduct sensitive research.To gather information, we created a survey in Ukrainian for refugees—our patients. We analyzed the collected data.No one had previously conducted such research based on a survey and individual patient perceptions.The aim of our study is to compare healthcare systems in Ukraine and Poland while also addressing social issues to better understand the needs and expectations of Ukrainian and others immigrants affected by the war.Can any instructive conclusions be drawn from comparing different healthcare systems?The war in Ukraine is an aggressive conflict raging in Europe, claiming enormous casualties among the warring parties. From the very first days of fighting, our 2 small clinics has been actively involved in providing medical assistance to refugees from Ukraine. We hired staff with language skills and provided information about treatment options at our facility. By November 2025, we had provided approximately 9,800 consultations. Helping war victims was and remains our primary value. We also asked patients dozens of questions. We included a small portion of the answers in our presented work.