
Development of the public health system: Ministry of Health holds meetings with regional Centres for Disease Control and Prevention heads to discuss results and priorities
The Ministry of Health of Ukraine has held its first series of reporting meetings with heads of regional Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDPCs) to discuss outcomes and plans for developing the public health system across regions. Leaders from 12 regional CDPCs – Volyn, Zaporizhzhia, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Cherkasy, Poltava, Rivne, Chernivtsi, and Chernihiv – have already presented their centres’ results and outlined priority areas for 2025. During these meetings, chaired by Deputy Minister of Health Ihor Kuzin, regional CDPC heads and representatives discussed key challenges and priority areas of work specific to their regions and communities.
“A widespread network of Centres across regions enables us to better map risks and needs in the context of public health at the level of individual regions and their communities, allowing for swift decision-making and coordination of actions on the ground. CDPCs are the backbone of Ukraine’s modern public health system, enabling rapid responses to health threats, conducting epidemiological surveillance, monitoring infectious and non-infectious diseases, and carrying out preventive work in communities. Therefore, implementing disease prevention projects, responding promptly to emergencies, and developing the laboratory network are priority tasks for regional CDPCs,” said Deputy Minister of Health and Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Ihor Kuzin.
Reporting meetings are planned for every regional Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. CDPCs operate in every region, providing services for the prevention of infectious and non-infectious diseases, epidemiological surveillance, and managing immunoprophylaxis for residents in their areas. Additionally, CDPCs organise mobile medical team visits to expand access to high-quality, free medical services for people in remote communities. In 2024, mobile teams from CDPCs provided medical assistance and vaccinations to 164,838 Ukrainians across 2,093 communities. During preventive visits, 52,000 Ukrainians received consultations from family doctors, and 42,000 from specialised doctors, including cardiologists, ophthalmologists, and psychologists. A total of 180,116 community residents underwent primary testing for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases (blood pressure measurement, blood glucose levels, ECG, fluorography) and rapid screening for hepatitis B and C, HIV, and COVID-19.
As a reminder, the Law of Ukraine “On the Public Health System” came into effect on 1 October 2023. It established a comprehensive public health system and integrated it into the European network in line with global standards. The public health system aims to improve health, prevent diseases, enhance quality of life, and increase life expectancy for Ukrainians, particularly through its priority function of preventing infectious and non-infectious diseases and ensuring access to immunoprophylaxis services. This approach aligns with European countries, where the average life expectancy is 72 years for men and 80 years for women.