PREVALENCE OF EYE DISEASES IN CHILDREN IN UKRAINE IN THE CONDITIONS OF WAR

Abstract

In recent years, Ukraine has seen an increase in the incidence of ophthalmic diseases among children, especially in the context of the ongoing armed conflict. Deterioration of the environmental situation, high levels of psycho-emotional stress, limited access to specialized medical care, and disruption of preventive measures have been the main factors that have led to the negative dynamics of the disease. The analysis of comparative statistics shows an increase in the prevalence of certain ophthalmopathologies in children in two time periods: 2015 –2020 and 2020 – 2025. The purpose of the study is to assess the dynamics of the prevalence of major ophthalmic pathologies among children in Ukraine before and during the war, to analyze changes in the structure of morbidity and to identify factors that could have influenced these changes. Results of the study. In 2020–2025, the overall incidence of conjunctivitis increased from 20.35 ± 0.04 ‰ to 22.48 ± 0.05 ‰. At the same time, the level of primary diagnosis remained almost unchanged (44.15 ± 0.03 % → 44.21 ± 0.03 %), which may indicate that the system of screening examinations is maintained despite the difficult situation, but indicates an increase in vulnerability to infectious agents due to deteriorating hygiene and social conditions. Myopia, which remains the leading vision pathology in childhood, showed the largest increase.Its prevalence increased from 26.74 ± 0.03 % to 30.06 ± 0.03 %, and the rate of new cases increased from 13.41 ± 0.02 % to 14.92 ± 0.02 %. The main factors are intense visual load due to online learning, reduced physical activity and psychological stress. Diseases requiring more complex diagnostics, such as cataracts, glaucoma, and optic nerve atrophy, showed a conditional decrease in rates. Thus, the frequency of cataracts decreased from 0.33 ± 0.01 ‰ to 0.25 ± 0.01 ‰, optic nerve atrophy – from 7.11 ± 0.08 to 6.48 ± 0.10 per 10 thousand children, glaucoma – remained stable (about 0.04 ± 0.01 ‰). Probably, these changes do not reflect the real epidemiological picture, but rather are a consequence of the reduced availability of specialized ophthalmic diagnostics in the war.Strabismus showed a slight decrease in prevalence – from 8.23 ±0.02 ‰ to 7.45 ± 0.01 ‰, while the number of newly detected cases remained almost constant (2.19 ± 0.01 % → 2.21 ± 0.01 %).This may be a result of limited screening in younger childhood or a decrease in medical and social attention to non- life-threatening diseases. Conclusions. The military conflict in Ukraine has had a significant impact on the ophthalmic health of children, causing an increase in the frequency of the most common diseases, such as myopia and conjunctivitis.All of this emphasizes the need to develop adaptive programs for early detection and prevention of visual impairment in childhood, particularly in crisis regions. Such measures should include mobile eye care teams, digital tools for primary screening, and strengthening inter-sectoral cooperation in the health and education systems.