The Ministry of Health of Ukraine together with the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine represented Ukraine at the Health Financing Forum, which is part of the Annual Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group.

The Forum was dedicated to the discussion of the effective financing of healthcare, private sector involvement, innovation and digital technology. Acting Minister of Health Dr. Ulana Suprun and Deputy Minister of Finance Yurii Dzhyhir presented the first success stories of healthcare sector transformation in Ukraine. They demonstrated an example of cooperation between the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the Ministry of Finance, and how effective allocation of funds, even with limited resources, can qualitatively change the system.

Even in countries with highly developed medicine, such as the United States or France, there are problems with providing medical services. After all, the large funding does not guarantee all citizens equal access to treatment. A key aspect is an efficiency of using available resource.

"Our international partners are closely monitoring the transformation of the healthcare system in Ukraine and are impressed by the results. There is a serious demand for our experience of implementing changes and a request to share the instruction. We are building a modern healthcare system from scratch, so we have a chance to learn from the mistakes of others. However, we have serious challenges - changes have to be made against the backdrop of the war, political instability and bureaucracy within the country", said acting Minister of Health of Ukraine Dr. Ulana Suprun.

How to ensure the continuous process of transformation? Our guarantee is the development of new, modern institutions, such as the National Health Service of Ukraine and the transition from confidentiality and paper to electronic document flow and e-Health.

On April 12, representatives of Ukraine visited the World Bank meeting for ministers, which are "champions" in the development of human capital. Healthy citizens are the best investments for the state.

It is rather important to draw on the experience of Western partners, in particular, Ukrainian-American cooperation is crucial.

Together with the Ambassador of Ukraine to the USA Valerii Chaly, Ukraine’s delegation met with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Alex Azar. Much attention was paid to cooperation with the US Congress, in particular, legislative initiatives to strengthen support for Ukraine.

The plans are to conclude a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services in the following areas:

• treatment and prevention of oncological diseases;

• clinical and scientific research in the field of oncology;

• general vaccination;

• vaccination for the prevention of papillomavirus.

Among important areas for discussion of the Ukrainian and American parties were rehabilitation of veterans, the program of treatment for our soldiers in the United States, opportunities for exchanging experience for the training of Ukrainian physicians, the strengthening of the Ukrainian fleet and cooperation in the Black Sea, the liberation of Ukrainian sailors, bio and cybersecurity, and strengthening cooperation against terrorism.