More than 1.3 million people in Ukraine have been diagnosed with diabetes. This is a chronic disease in which the body cannot properly use or produce insulin, a hormone that controls blood glucose levels.
Since the beginning of 2025, 190,903 Ukrainians have been diagnosed with diabetes for the first time. For comparison, last year this figure was 260,242 patients. According to the Electronic Health Care System, more than 190,000 cases of type 1 diabetes have been recorded in Ukraine. Under the state reimbursement programme “Affordable Medicines”, 137,000 patients have already received electronic prescriptions for insulin.
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Type 2 diabetes remains the most common form of the disease, affecting more than 1.26 million Ukrainians. During the year, 198,000 people with this diagnosis received electronic prescriptions for insulin, and the rate of reimbursement consistently exceeded 90%.
Patients with diabetes can receive the necessary medicines and medical devices free of charge or with a partial co-payment under the “Affordable Medicines” programme. The list includes 60 drugs for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, 4 for diabetes insipidus, 38 types of insulin and 42 medical devices (test strips) for patients with type 1 diabetes.
Since the beginning of 2025, the National Health Service of Ukraine has reimbursed pharmacies for insulin in excess of UAH 2.6 billion, which is five times more than in 2021. Over the past two years, the number of test strips dispensed to patients has increased almost twentyfold — from 691,900 units in 2023 to 13.2 million in 2025.
Despite this, about half of people living with diabetes are unaware of their condition. To detect such diseases at an early stage, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine will launch the National Health Screening 40+ programme in early 2026. This is an annual free check-up for people aged 40 and over, which will help to diagnose diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in a timely manner and assess mental health.
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