Minister of Health Viktor Liashko chaired a year-end board meeting of the Ministry of Health, which was attended by members of the board, heads of healthcare units of the executive body of the Kyiv City Council and regional state administrations.

Next year, the Ministry of Health will continue its efforts to improve quality and accessibility of medical care, as well as to strengthen response to reports of extortion for services financed by the medical guarantees program. The board discussed results of work of the healthcare sector, formation of a strong network of hospitals, medical guarantees program for 2023 and prospects of medical education development for the next year.

“2022 was a year of challenges and resilience. Despite daily attacks and threats, our medical system has withstood, refocused and continues to provide medical care to Ukrainians in every region. In 2022, we have a number of unimplemented projects that have been postponed due to the full-scale invasion of terrorists, most of the planned projects have been successfully implemented, and there are some implemented projects that we did not even plan, but they emerged in response to military challenges. 2023 will be a year of tireless work for us, as we will focus not only on responding to daily challenges, but also on the development of the medical system and its recovery from the consequences of the war,” the Minister of Health said during his speech at the year-end board meeting of the Ministry.

He stressed that the medical system not only withstood, but also made significant steps forward, in particular, unprecedented supplies of medical devices and medical equipment to hospitals were made, important European integration laws were adopted, namely the Law of Ukraine “On Public Health System” and the Law of Ukraine “On Medicines”.

Also, for more than 10 months of full-scale war, 122 medical facilities that were damaged by occupants’ shells have been fully restored, and another 257 have received partial repairs. At present, the Ministry of Health, jointly with partners, have already developed a plan for the restoration of the medical system from the consequences of war, which will allow not only to rebuild the destroyed medical infrastructure, but finally to build a healthcare system according to the European model.

Besides, during the board meeting, the Program of Medical Guarantees for 2023 was presented, which would include a number of new packages enabling Ukrainians to receive free services.

In the new year, the Ministry of Health will continue to implement the next stage of medical reform, whereby a comprehensive network of medical institutions is to be created. The board discussed a draft resolution of the Government, which, when adopted, would trigger implementation of modern approaches to the formation of a network of medical institutions.

Moreover, the Board discussed the peculiarities of admission to professional pre-higher and higher educational institutions next year and the organization of educational process under martial law. Indeed, high-quality training of medical, pharmaceutical and rehabilitation specialists at all levels of education is a key factor in the development of the national health care system and provision of all types of medical care.

“Medical training remains one of our top priorities. Due to the full-scale war in Ukraine this year organization of an admission campaign took place in extreme conditions. The Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science and involving rectors of higher education institutions, did its best to ensure that capable and educated Ukrainian youth could enroll and study in medical universities, and thus strengthen the Ukrainian healthcare system,” Viktor Liashko summed up.

Following the year-end board meeting of the Ministry of Health, decisions were made that would contribute to providing Ukrainians with high-quality, affordable and free medical care next year.