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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The Ministry of Health Awaits a Reset, or The First One Is Gone
Most likely, the deputy minister’s resignation letter is the first sign, and soon the “reformers” in the Ministry of Health’s offices will be replaced
As Rakurs learned from verified sources, Deputy Minister of Health Oksana Syvak submitted her resignation yesterday. She held the position for almost a year — since 31 August 2016. At the ministry Syvak oversaw issues of European integration and its medical components: public health, the blood service, biosafety, transplantation, as well as reforming the ministry’s apparatus and raising the professional level of civil servants.
What prompted this decision can only be guessed. It is unlikely that the somewhat inaccurate report to the World Health Organization (WHO) on biosafety was the direct cause. The situation with controlling infectious diseases in our country is truly deadlocked. As infectious disease specialists say, you don’t need to be a prophet to predict, for example, a botulism outbreak this summer. There is a postulate: the lower people’s standard of living, the higher the level of infectious diseases. Not long ago, every infectious disease ward had strategic reserves of antitoxins — anti-tetanus, antitoxic for botulism, antitoxin for diphtheria... How did it happen and who is to blame that in recent years these have become scarce in Ukraine?
Unfortunately, in their haste to implement what they called a medical reform, the authorities and the relevant ministry probably forgot that biological safety is one of the most important components of the country’s national security. Countries that are successful in terms of infectious diseases are not so because the people there are different and infections don’t exist, but because the more money allocated and the stronger the surveillance and response systems, the more tangible the results.
Most likely, the deputy minister’s resignation letter is the first sign, and soon the “reformers” in the Ministry of Health’s offices will be replaced. Apparently, those above heard that the long-awaited reform of Ukrainian medicine as interpreted by the current team of the relevant ministry looks more like a (para)reform that has nothing to do with the expectations of our fellow citizens and does not take Ukrainian realities into account.
Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman’s view that Ukraine is overusing the number of foreign specialists involved in public administration can be seen as informational groundwork for their dismissal. “I think that at one time, during a certain period, we began to abuse this. I believe Ukraine should be built by Ukrainians. Not to say we cannot invite certain specialists who are recognized. But, by and large, we must build our own house ourselves, and that is very important. Yes, we will make mistakes, yes, we may do something differently than other countries did, but I am deeply convinced that everything we have to do we must pass through our own heart — then we will value it,” Groysman said.
Certainly, successful foreign experience should be adopted. But with judgment. Adjusted for the realities of our country. And remember that Ukraine is not a football field. Foreign legionnaires can help win a championship, but the rules of the game in each country, unlike in football, are their own.
The prime minister has repeatedly promised that the government will do everything so that medical care becomes accessible to our fellow citizens. The introduction of reference prices for medicines, reimbursement (compensation for the cost of drugs), higher salaries... were widely announced. The scapegoat for the collapse of unmet expectations will most likely become Ulana Suprun — the minister with the chronic acting prefix — and her team. Of course, the current reformers have made many miscalculations, but is systemic healthcare reform possible with its miserably low funding? While loudly announcing medical reform, the health budget was cut year after year.
I recall that Suprun’s chair was already wobbling last November, when the first 100 days of her activities did not please senior leadership with any noticeable breakthrough in the health department. Candidates who do not hide ministerial ambitions promptly flocked to the interview like raptors.
Experts suggested that the Ministry of Health might be closed entirely and its assets (the ministry owns huge real estate across the country) transferred to the Ministry of Social Policy. Should it be reminded that in Ukrainian realities, when property is transferred from one balance sheet to another, part of it disappears? At that time they did not dare. And now? Merging ministries can be justified not only by numerous failed attempts to reform Ukrainian medicine, but also by pointing to other countries where these departments were successfully combined.
The answer to whether Suprun will manage to hold on to the health minister’s chair this time and who is being prophesied to replace her is known to the one who so unexpectedly appointed her to this position. What matters is different. Another failure of medical reform discredits the very idea of reform and leads to further disappointment in society.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "На МОЗ чекає перезавантаження, або Перший пішов". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.
