Corruption in the healthcare sector during a war: A threat to human rights

Aim: To show the increase of corruption risks in healthcare during the war, their negative impact on the protection of human rights, and to outline legal ways to minimize these risks.

Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in 2025 and is based on international and humanitarian law, Ukrainian legislation and regulations in the areas of human rights, healthcare, and anti-corruption, interviews with medical professionals and wounded combatants, content analysis of media publications, and Ukrainian judicial practice and statistics. A total of 47 documents were analyzed, and interviews were conducted with three medical professionals and five combatants. The methods used were legal analysis and systemic-structural analysis, interviews, statistical analysis, content analysis of media information, and analytical methods, including induction and deduction. Artificial intelligence was used as an auxiliary tool for information search; Grammarly was used to edit the text.

Conclusions: While international law has not yet established a binding norm defining corruption as a human rights violation, corruption in healthcare systems constitutes a significant threat to the realization of human rights. No derogation from commitments to the rights to life and health is legally permissible during wartime. To minimize corruption risks, the healthcare system, including military medicine, must be adequately prepared in advance. Digitalization serves as a crucial tool for transparent assessment of functional/ADL status, and the management of humanitarian aid requires a more effective oversight system.