The reform of primary healthcare in rural areas initiated by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has been kicked off much later than the "New Ukrainian School" program, decentralization or administrative reform. And today it depends on the work of family doctors on the regions. Family doctors today are drivers of the primary healthcare reform in the countryside. Deputy Prime Minister/ Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine Hennadii Zubko emphasized at the forum of family doctors "The assistance is very close!" in Kyiv.

"The President of Ukraine aired the initiative to support and develop primary healthcare in the countryside. And this attitude of the Ukrainian authorities has a simple explanation - today, 33% of Ukrainians live in the countryside. Therefore, the issue of the healthсare of every person, especially in rural areas, which produce the state’s second largest GDP in terms of agricultural production, is very important. The far-reaching reform covers both rural medicine and road construction, the New Ukrainian School, the services provided by Centers for Administrative Services Provision", Hennadii Zubko said.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the reform firstly began with the analysis of the existing infrastructure of the primary healthcare. It turned out that 85% of outpatient clinics do not have water supply and sewage systems and generally do not have decent conditions to help people and working conditions for doctors. In such circumstances, even the most qualified doctor will not be able to provide a quality service.

Appealing to family doctors, the Deputy Prime Minister stressed that "today the decent working conditions that are created due telemedicine should be imposed on the quality service of people living nearby. And this is an overriding priority".

"This is assistance to people who are next to you, with whom you have signed declarations that are waiting not only for help, but also for monitoring of their health. Because the health of Ukrainians living today in rural areas is a strategic priority of the state," he said.

According to statistics, 65% of citizens today suffer from cardiovascular disease. Annually about 45 thousand cases of heart attacks are registered, and almost one third of- lethality. More than 2.5 million Ukrainians today are suffering from obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchial asthma, and 19,000 citizens are added annually to those who have diabetes. And these figures should be reduced, so that the curve of diseases tirelessly crawl down.

Hennadii Zubko stressed that due to the Memorandum signed by the Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine, the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, the World Bank and the Government of Canada, it became possible to determine the required number of outpatient clinics and family doctors. As a result, a network of 4,223 rural outpatient clinics was created, and it is being determined how many doctors in these clinics should work - one or more.

"We identified  how we will move towards the modernization of 4,223 outpatient clinics. 517 new outpatient clinics are under construction, and 30 have already started work. By the end of the second quarter, we will see how the outpatient clinics will start working, which will offer completely different conditions for doctors and people. I am convinced that the reform of primary healthcare which is the initiative of the President of Ukraine  is a reanimation package for the primary healthcare in rural areas", Hennadii Zubko stressed.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, 517 new outpatient clinics will cover 1.7 million of rural population.