Ukraine and the World Bank have been partners in healthcare reform since 2015. Three major projects are being implemented as part of the cooperation: Ukraine Emergency COVID-19 Response and Vaccination, Strengthening the Health System to Improve Health Outcomes, and Serving People, Improving Health. The latter was launched back in 2015. This week, the teams of the Ministry of Health and the World Bank discussed the main achievements and effective mechanisms that have been developed in the course of joint cooperation and can be used in other joint projects at a two-day conference on the results of the project.

"This is the first project of the Ministry of Health and the World Bank that has been transformed over 9 years of work, taking into account the circumstances - first it was a pandemic, now it is a full-scale war - but has demonstrated high efficiency. The project improved the system of prevention and treatment of circulatory system diseases in Volyn, Zaporizhzhia, and Rivne regions. Cancer prevention and effective anti-tumour technologies were introduced in Lviv region. An innovative model of hypertension services was introduced in Poltava region. The commissioning of the new building of the Vinnytsia Diagnostic and Treatment Centre for Cardiovascular Pathology is currently nearing completion," said Ihor Kuzin, Deputy Minister of Health, Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine.

During the implementation of the project Serving People, Improving Health, healthcare facilities in 8 regions of Ukraine have been modernized, in particular, in Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and Poltava regions, which are now actively providing assistance to those affected by the hostilities. In total, more than 114,000 pieces of medical equipment, vehicles, ambulances and mobile outpatient clinics were purchased under the project. More than 45,000 doctors and healthcare managers have received training. Thanks to additional funding for this project, about 6,000 units of critical medical equipment were purchased in 2022 for a total of USD 37.7 million. The purchase was made using the mechanism of extended support for the implementation of World Bank-funded projects in the health sector in Ukraine, which is something Ukraine has not had before.

The Serving People, Improving Health project aims to improve access to and quality of healthcare services at the local level (most notably in 8 regions selected on a competitive basis), reform the system of financing healthcare facilities, develop the electronic healthcare system (eHealth), public health services, etc. The total amount of loans is USD 349.7 million. The project has shown good results and proved its effectiveness. In particular, its implementation has significantly improved access to and the quality of medical services for the treatment of strokes and heart attacks.

A two-day conference on the results of the project was held in Vinnytsia with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Health, the World Bank, the NHS, the CPC, WHO, UNDP, UNICEF, the DoH, and project partners.