Barrier-Free Council's meeting: Ministry of Health presents results of rehabilitation assistance system development

On 7 November 2025, a regular meeting of the Barrier-Free Council was held, chaired by Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko and attended by First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska. The meeting gathered members of the Government, representatives of Parliament, international partners, mayors and civil society leaders.

Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Liashko presented the results of the flagship project "Development of the Rehabilitation Care System" — one of the key areas of the National Strategy for Creating a Barrier-Free Environment in Ukraine by 2030.

‘Barrier-free environment means that a person can undergo rehabilitation without any obstacles. The Ministry of Health of Ukraine is implementing the flagship project "Development of the Rehabilitation Care System", which aims to provide quality, accessible and free care to everyone who needs it. We are forming a modern rehabilitation assistance system focused on returning both civilians and military personnel to active life. It is based on a multidisciplinary approach, partnership with communities and international experience. Our goal is to make rehabilitation in Ukraine accessible, effective and people-centred," said Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Liashko.

Currently, more than 500 medical facilities across the country provide free rehabilitation assistance to adults and children under the Medical Guarantees Programme. Of these, 372 are in inpatient facilities and 523 are outpatient facilities. For children aged three and under, such services are provided by 165 institutions.

One such institution is the Zviahel Multidisciplinary Hospital in Zhytomyr region. It has a comprehensive rehabilitation department where three multidisciplinary teams provide assistance to patients. During a meeting of the Barrier-Free Council, Mykola Borovets, head of the Zviahel city council, shared his experience of how rehabilitation assistance is being improved in communities.

In 86% of cluster and supercluster hospitals in the capable network, inpatient rehabilitation departments equipped for people who have suffered strokes and war injuries are already operating. More than 12,000 specialists work in the rehabilitation system as part of multidisciplinary teams — eight times more than in 2022.

This year, more than UAH 6 billion has been allocated to finance rehabilitation assistance, which is almost three times more than in 2021. Medical institutions have already received more than UAH 5 billion from the National Health Service of Ukraine for services rendered. In addition, thanks to the reform of the rehabilitation services payment system, the payment and number of cycles for patients with amputations, spinal cord and brain injuries have been increased.

To implement the flagship project of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, we are also continuing to develop clinical multidisciplinary rehabilitation centres of excellence. These are training bases for the professional development of specialists — there are currently seven such centres in Ukraine.

The Ministry of Health of Ukraine has also introduced new academic programmes for training rehabilitation specialists — physical therapists, occupational therapists, prosthetists-orthotists, and speech therapists. In particular, a dual form of education was launched in 2024, and the first master's programme in Ukraine, "Speech and Language Therapy", was opened at the Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University.

In addition, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine recently approved the country's first ever standard for rehabilitation care — "Provision of Rehabilitation Care for Spinal Cord Injuries." It defines clear algorithms, quality criteria, and the distribution of responsibilities among specialists. Future plans include developing standards for amputations, strokes, cerebral palsy, fractures, and care for premature babies.

The development of paediatric rehabilitation is one of the key areas of the Ministry of Health's flagship project. Its goal is to ensure that every child who needs rehabilitation receives it in a timely manner, fully and as close to home as possible.

In Ukraine, outpatient facilities continue to be created in every community with a medical facility for veterans and anyone who needs continued rehabilitation.

The Ministry of Health has also begun implementing a single rehabilitation service provided by physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech and language therapists. It includes at least ten rehabilitation sessions over three months and allows people to receive help nearer to where they live.

The Cabinet of Ministers has adopted a resolution that will allow for a review of the current regulations governing the work of rehabilitation departments and specialists. It now specifies the duration of a rehabilitation session so that each stage — from assessment to feedback — is carried out fully and effectively. The concept of ‘rehabilitation provided in the local community’ has also been defined, in particular in the case of rehabilitation assistance provided independently by a rehabilitation specialist, in accordance with the person's needs. In addition, the terminology regarding functional assessment tools has been standardised.

It should be noted that in the first nine months of 2025, more than 133,000 patients received rehabilitation assistance in hospitals, 234,000 received outpatient care, and more than 18,000 children under the age of three received rehabilitation assistance.