On November 30, Minister of Health Viktor Liashko, together with First Deputy Minister Oleksandr Komarida and Deputy Ministers Bogdan Borukhovskyi and Ihor Kuzin, met with members of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine (IICOIU).

The Commission of independent experts was established with the mandate to conduct a comprehensive investigation and proper documentation of human rights violations and war crimes committed by the russian federation as a result of full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine.

The Commission has already submitted to the 77th UN General Assembly a report on the events in Kyiv, Sumy, Chernihiv and Kharkiv regions during their occupation in February-March 2022.

During the meeting, Viktor Liashko stressed that the basic right of every person is the right to health and medical care.

“The criminal actions of the russian federation violated this right of Ukrainians, both directly and indirectly, impeding the ability of our citizens to receive proper medical care guaranteed by the state. Ukrainians who are in the occupied territories, in the combat zone are currently either deprived of this right or have limited access to medical services. At the same time, Ukrainians living in other territories suffer from missile attacks, disruptions in communication causing difficulties in calling emergency medical teams, stress associated with a full-scale war, and a daily sense of danger,” the Minister said.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the scale of damage caused by the russian federation to the medical infrastructure of Ukraine (as of 29.11.2022, 1157 facilities were damaged), the provision of medical, including psychological, care to Ukrainians during martial law and to victims of gender-based violence.

The Minister stressed that currently Ukrainians can receive psychological assistance from a family doctor, therapist or pediatrician. During martial law, one can apply to any primary care doctor, regardless of availability of a declaration. The family doctor conducts screening for mental and behavioral disorders and, if necessary, refers to a psychiatrist.

A person can consult a psychiatrist free of charge and without a referral. To do this, one should contact any medical institution that provides outpatient care under an agreement with the National Health Service of Ukraine and has a psychiatrist on staff.

For reference

The Commission was established for one year and is intended to collect, consolidate and analyze evidence of violations and abuses, including their gender dimension, and to systematically record and preserve all information, documentation and evidence, including interviews, witness testimony and forensic materials, consistent with international law standards, in view of any future legal proceedings. Members of the Commission:

• Eric Møse (Chair of the Commission), a judge, former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda,
• Jasminka Džumhur, Human Rights Ombudsperson of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
• Pablo de Greiff, former justice adviser to international organizations and director of the Transitional Justice Program at New York University.