On September 10, Kyiv hosted the first International RECOVERY360 Forum — an event that brought together representatives of government institutions, veterans’ organizations, the medical and health resort sectors, businesses, and international experts to address one of the most important questions facing Ukraine today: what should a long-term recovery system for people affected by the war look like?
VITASAN and Dr. Pirogov Laboratory joined RECOVERY360 as participants and partners of the Forum.
For us, this participation was far from formal. Balneology, natural therapeutic resources, and health resort-based recovery are fields in which we have been working for many years. Today, they are taking on an entirely new significance for Ukraine.
Treatment and rehabilitation are not the end of the journey. Afterwards, a person often needs a longer period of physical and psychological recovery, a gradual return to activity, work, family life, and everyday routines.
This question — what comes next? — was at the heart of many discussions at RECOVERY360.
What Happens After Rehabilitation?
Hospital. Rehabilitation centre. And then what?
For service members and veterans, people recovering from injuries and trauma, and civilians affected by the war, recovery often does not end upon discharge.
There needs to be a next stage — long-term recovery.
The Forum highlighted the need to create a continuous pathway for each person: from treatment and rehabilitation to the next stage that supports a gradual return to everyday life.
And this is no longer just a professional discussion.
An interagency working group has been established under the relevant subcommittee of the Verkhovna Rada to work on legislation governing long-term recovery. One of its key tasks is to define the service itself, its components, and its cost so that it can eventually be funded by the state.
In other words, long-term recovery is gradually moving from an idea towards the creation of a dedicated national system.
Building on What Ukraine Already Has
One of the central topics of RECOVERY360 was the future of Ukrainian health resorts and sanatoriums.
And Ukraine already has an enormous resource base.
The country has mineral waters, therapeutic muds, bischofite, health resort regions, sanatorium facilities, decades of experience in health resort medicine, and qualified specialists.
A significant part of the foundation required for long-term recovery already exists.
The challenge is that the sanatorium system itself requires substantial modernisation.
That is why one of the major topics discussed at the Forum was the transformation of existing sanatoriums into modern long-term recovery centres for veterans, their families, internally displaced persons, and others affected by the war.
This is not about returning to the old model of sanatorium treatment.
It is about creating modern centres where medicine, physical rehabilitation, health resort medicine, natural therapeutic factors, psychological support, physical activity, and programmes designed to help people return to active life can work together.
This approach is being systematically developed by the All-Ukrainian Association of Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation and Balneology (VAFK) — https://www.vafk.info/
Balneology as Part of Modern Recovery
For VITASAN, this subject is particularly relevant.
For many years, we have worked with natural balneological products, including bischofite, therapeutic muds, mineral and turpentine baths, products for heat applications, and other solutions used in professional and home-based balneology.
But behind individual products lies a much broader field — Ukrainian health resort medicine and the use of natural therapeutic factors within comprehensive recovery programmes.
This is why the participation of VITASAN and Dr. Pirogov Laboratory in RECOVERY360 was a natural continuation of the work we do every day.
At the Forum, we presented our work in natural balneology, including products based on bischofite from the Poltava deposit.
Products by Dr. Pirogov Laboratory were also included in gift sets for RECOVERY360 participants.
For us, this was not simply an opportunity to present our products. It was a way to demonstrate the practical side of modern balneology and draw attention to the natural resources Ukraine already possesses and can use as part of comprehensive recovery programmes.
Sanatoriums Should Become Part of the New System
Another major discussion at RECOVERY360 focused on how Ukrainian sanatoriums can be modernised and where the resources for this transformation can come from.
The old funding model has effectively ceased to function. At the same time, losing the sanatorium infrastructure built over decades would mean losing enormous potential for Ukraine’s future recovery system.
That is why discussions at the Forum went far beyond medicine.
Participants discussed investment, grants, public-private partnerships, facility modernisation, and opportunities to attract both Ukrainian and international capital.
A separate panel was dedicated specifically to investment and public-private partnerships. Representatives of government institutions, businesses, the investment sector, and veterans’ communities discussed the conditions under which sanatorium and recreational facilities could be given a new future.
And this is already happening in practice: during the Forum, it was noted that veterans’ business communities are already financing projects in the field of balneology.
Balneology is therefore gradually returning in an entirely different form — not as a legacy of the old sanatorium system, but as one of the components of a modern recovery sector.
Recovery Is About Much More Than Medicine
Perhaps this was one of the most important ideas we took away from RECOVERY360.
Treating an injury alone is not enough.
A person needs to regain mobility and endurance. Adapt to changes. Return to work. To family. To everyday life. To travelling, sport, and making plans for the future.
That is why a long-term recovery system cannot consist of a single institution, specialist, or method.
It requires cooperation between healthcare, physical and rehabilitation medicine, psychological support, the health resort sector, local communities, veterans’ organisations, government institutions, and businesses.
RECOVERY360 effectively brought all of these stakeholders together in one place.
RECOVERY360 — A Conversation That Must Continue
A long-term recovery system cannot be built during a single Forum.
But an important first step can be made — bringing together the people and institutions whose decisions and work will shape that system.
RECOVERY360 addressed legislation and public funding, the pathway after rehabilitation, the future of Ukrainian sanatoriums, investment, European experience, and the potential of Ukraine’s natural therapeutic resources.
For VITASAN and Dr. Pirogov Laboratory, our partnership with RECOVERY360 is an opportunity to contribute to this work today.
We believe that Ukrainian balneology has the potential to become one of the components of a modern long-term recovery system. Not as a replacement for medicine or rehabilitation, but as their logical continuation when a person needs time, consistency, and a comprehensive approach.
Because recovery does not end with rehabilitation.
It is a journey back to an active life. And Ukraine still has to build a system that will help people make that journey.
