Ukraine’s healthcare workforce is under immense pressure, and women are carrying most of the load. Women represent 83% of the country’s health workers, according to the EU Neighbours East Report, making burnout in healthcare overwhelmingly a women’s issue.
Years of war, staff shortages and relentless clinical demands are taking a serious toll. A nationwide survey conducted by GMKA Ukraine on 950 clinicians found that 66% experienced high levels of emotional exhaustion.
For women in oncology, the strain is even greater. The organisation also found that 80% of surveyed women physicians had experienced explicit gender discrimination, while more than half reported discouragement from pursuing surgical specialties.
At the European Cancer Summit 2024 in Brussels, Dr Inesa Huivaniuk, MD, MPA, and the co-executive director of GMKA Ukraine and a surgical oncologist at the Kyiv Regional Cancer Center, was awarded a European Cancer Community Foundation Cancer Workforce Grant for her project, ‘Supporting Women in Oncology in Ukraine: Addressing Burnout and Enhancing Well-being Among Surgeons, Oncologists, and Radiation Oncologists.’
‘The ECO Workforce Grant was a catalyst for change for female oncologists in Ukraine during a period of immense strain,’ said Dr Huivaniuk.
One of the project’s first actions was the launch of a pilot mentorship initiative connecting early-career oncologists, surgeons and medical students with senior specialists and academic leaders.
The programme established four mentor-mentee pairs focused on:
- leadership and communication skills
- burnout management and emotional resilience
- career progression in oncology and surgery
- building international research collaborations
The mentorship pilot produced immediate results, with participants reporting increased professional confidence, motivation and stronger peer support networks.
The project also brought mental health and leadership discussions into the national spotlight through the forum ‘Women in Medicine: The Voice of Change,’ held in Lviv in September 2025.
The event attracted 290 participants, including physicians, nurses, students and policymakers, and created a dedicated space to address burnout, gender inequality and the future of women’s leadership in Ukrainian healthcare.
‘This initiative hasn’t just improved wellbeing,’ Dr Huivaniuk added. ‘It has fostered a resilient leadership network that ensures Ukrainian oncology professionals can continue providing empathetic, high-quality care even in conflict-affected settings.’
By combining mentorship, wellbeing support and leadership development, Dr Huivaniuk’s initiative is helping build a more resilient oncology workforce during one of the most difficult periods in Ukraine’s modern history.
Attached to this article is a presentation report on the project, along with a gallery of photographs documenting the pilot activities and workshops carried out in Ukraine.
