General information

Regional centre – Kharkiv
Area - 31,4 thousand sq. km
Population as of 01.01.2007 – 2,796,5 thousand
Including:

• urban – 2,215,5 thousand, 79,2 %
• rural - 581,0 thousand, 20,8 %
• in Kharkiv – 1,441,6 thousand
• in the Kharkiv region-2,796,5 thousand

Geographically, the region lies in the Northeast of Ukraine on the borderline between the steppe and forest-steppe zones, occupying the southwestern part of the Seredniorus’ka upland. In terms of climate and natural conditions, the region’s central, northern and western districts belong to the forest-steppe zone, whereas the southernmost and eastern reaches of the land are steppe.

The administrative makeup of the region

The number of administrative - territorial units:
Rural districts:  27
Towns of regional significance:  7
City districts:  9
Towns of district significance: 10
Townships:  61
Settlements - 1761 including: urban - 78, rural - 1683

Demographics (as of 01.01.2007)

In the course of the past five years, the region’s total population has shrunk by 3.4% (5% among the rural population). On 01.01.2007 it totaled 2 mil. 796,5 th., including a rural population of 581,0 th.

The fraction of rural population is 20.8 %, accordingly the percentage of town-dwellers is 79.2 %. In terms of gender, the female population (54.3 %) outweighs the male one.

The demographic load is 676,6 persons of unemployable age per 1 thousand persons of employable age.

Table 1.
Age distribution of the Kharkiv region population (2000-2007)

The major factor of the reduction of the region’s population and its aging is depopulation. Owing to the annual excess of deaths over births over the past 5 years, the area has lost 121.5 thousand persons - on average 24.4 thousand per year.

Death rates have remained at an unvaryingly high level within the last 5 years, fluctuating between 16.0 and 16.2 per 1 thousand persons. Circulatory system diseases have been identified as the major cause of death, followed by newgrowth and accidents and injuries.

Table 2.
Vital statistics for the Kharkiv region 2000-2007

There is a marked tendency towards a decrease in infant mortality (currently 7.7 per 1000 live birth, and 8.6 in 2002). Major causes of infant death are defined as sickliness typical of the perinatal period (44.0%), inborn abnormalities (25.3%), external causes (8.3%) and respiratory system diseases (6.7%).

Average life expectancy across the region is 68.6 years, 63.0 for males and 74.3 for females (cf. 67.7 in 1990).

The general tendencies of the population health condition (as of 01.01.2007)

In 2006, 5.5 mil. medical cases were registered, including 2.2 mil. new cases (40%). The index of disease prevalence is 195611,2 per 100 thousand persons, the index of incidence - 79251,1 per 100 thousand.

Disease rates among the rural population are 167425,2 per 100 thousand persons, with the incidence of 62789,8 per 100 thousand village dwellers.

Indices of disease prevalence and incidence among children amounted to 2016,0 and 1469,6 per 100 thousand of junior population respectively.

In terms of prevalence, cardiovascular diseases (29.4 %); respiratory system diseases (17.8 %); digestive system illnesses (10.9 %) and musculoskeletal system illnesses (6,2 %) claim the largest number of cases.

Primary incidence structure split into disease classes: respiratory organs pathology (34.9 %), cardiovascular diseases (11.5 %), illnesses of urinogenital system (7.5 %), and, finally, injuries with a modest 5.9%.

Table 3
Morbidity dynamics of  Kharkiv region population (2000-2007)

The healthcare system of the region

The healthcare system of the region (as of 01.01.2007) comprises 1587 health care establishments of different ownership forms and subordination levels. The region contains 64  healthcare establishments of regional subordination; 23 healthcare establishments of city subordination; 49 medical establishments of district subordination (Kharkiv city districts); 862 district healthcare institutions; 12 scientific research institutes of the NAS, the АМS, the МОH and the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the population of Ukraine; 2 specialised medical sanitary units directly subordinated  to the МОH; a network of medical establishments of the Southern railway; a military hospital; medical establishments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine; 5 “Ukrprofzdorovnytsia” joint-stock company health resorts. Also 188 privately practising doctors and 156 non-state medical facilities are active in the region. Two central rayon hospitals (Blyzniuki and Zolochiv CRH) have had their commercial and legal status changed from communal establishments to communal non-commercial enterprises.

Table 4.
The Kharkiv region healthcare network

The region’s network employs 49169 healthcare professionals, including 11163 physicians and 24282 of medical assisting staff.

The treatment and prevention facilities network

The physician population ratio is 39.0 per 10,000 persons, junior medical staff population ratio is 868 per 10,000 persons. Index of staffing level among physicians is 78.2%, and 92.5% among junior medical staff.

22754 24-hour hospital beds are available across the region, and the bed population ratio is 81.4 per 10,000 persons (for MOH-subordinated facilities). Average number of operating days for a hospital bed was 332 in 2006, as the average hospital stay lasted 12.7 days.