From 22 to 26 September, the Ministry of Health of Lithuania, in collaboration with the WHO Health and Migration Programme at WHO headquarters, the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the WHO Country Office in Lithuania, will conduct a Refugee and migrant health system review in Lithuania. The exercise is undertaken with national stakeholders and supported by international partners, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Lithuania has experienced a rapid demographic transition in recent years. Once predominantly a country of emigration, it is now hosting increasing numbers of refugees, asylum seekers and labour migrants. As of early 2025, approximately 217 000 foreign residents lived in Lithuania, representing 7.5% of the population. People from Ukraine form the largest group. There are more than 50 000 people displaced by the war in Ukraine, in addition to people from Ukraine who came to Lithuania before the war. In total, there about 91 000 people from Ukraine who are still residing in Lithuania and accounting for over 2.5% of the national population (UNHCR, 2024). Other groups, including people from Belarus and the Russian Federation, are also hosted in Lithuania, with arrivals driven mainly by asylum seeking, labour opportunities and family reunification. These shifts place new demands on the health system. The COVID-19 pandemic and the migrant crises at the Belarus-European Union (EU) border in 2021 highlighted structural challenges in outbreak preparedness, emergency response and health system resilience. Progress has been made, among other things, by way of extending national health insurance to people from Ukraine who are under temporary protection, scaling up vaccination campaigns and strengthening reception centre health services. However, challenges persist in ensuring continuity of care, mental health and psychosocial support, interpretation and cultural mediation, municipal capacity and sustainable financing.
Aim of the health system review
The review aims to provide an evidence-based assessment of how Lithuania’s health system responds to refugee and migrant health needs and to identify opportunities to strengthen equity, resilience and integration. It will apply the WHO Refugee and Migrant Health System Review Tool using a qualitative and participatory approach that includes desk reviews, stakeholder consultations, field visits, interviews and analysis.
Specific objectives are to:
- review how refugee and migrant health needs are integrated into the national health system, including across the 6 building blocks and essential public health functions;
- identify strengths, challenges and opportunities in ensuring equitable access to quality health services;
- assess cross-sectoral coordination between the Ministry of Health, other ministries, municipalities and partners; and
- provide practical recommendations to strengthen the health system for the benefit of refugees, migrants and host communities.
This activity is part of a joint WHO/Europe and IOM project to improve access to health care for refugees and displaced people from Ukraine in EU Member States. The project, titled “Improving access to health care for refugees and people displaced from Ukraine benefiting from temporary protection in EU Member States”, is funded by the European Union under the 2023 EU4Health Work Programme. It is being implemented from 2023 to 2025 in 10 countries: Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania and Slovakia.