The strategy of reforming the health care system in Ukraine
Authors: Нalai V.O. 
Published: February 2023

The author carried out an analysis of the existing legal framework and the state of implementation of the reform in the field of health care in Ukraine for the period until 2020, the formation of new aspects of state policy in the field of health care and the determination of priorities in the development of the provisions of the Strategy for Reforming the Health Care System me until 2030.

It was established that the need to reform the health care system in Ukraine and search for legal ways to overcome the problem of providing poor-quality medical care, which violates the rights of citizens under Art. 3, 48, 49 of the Constitution of Ukraine, led to the formation of the main directions of state policy in the field of health care. The years 2014-2015, when the Program of Activities of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Sustainable Development Strategy "Ukraine-2020" were adopted, where the goal of state policy in the field of health care and the main strategic goals were defined reforms

During the analysis of a number of normative legal acts that form the basis of health care reform, it was established that the formation of the Health Care Reform Strategy in Ukraine was influenced by such factors as: the need to define the main strategic goals of state policy in the health care sector ; search for legal ways to overcome the problem of providing low-quality medical care to the population and protect the rights of patients; combating and preventing corruption in the field of health care, in particular in the field of public procurement; creation of a single three-level system of medical institutions; regulation of the pharmaceutical market; the need to implement "e-medicine"; financing according to the "money follows the patient" system.

The author summarizes the main ways of implementing the reform of the health care system for the period until 2020: the initiation of the Program of Medical Guarantees at the level of secondary medical care with the help of contracts with the National Health Service; establishment of a system for concluding declarations with primary care doctors; use of the "Affordable Medicines" program for patients; ensuring the operation of "eHealth" in 24/7 mode, etc.

The expediency of legislatively enshrining the provisions of the strategy is related to the urgency of reforming the health care system in Ukraine. It was established that the planned measures for the development and adoption of the Strategy for the Development of the Health Care System were not carried out within the stipulated time due to a number of factors, in particular complicated by the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was determined that among the priorities and expectations from reforming the health care system due to the practical implementation of the provisions of the "Strategy-2030" are the following: patient orientation (priority of the patient's rights, increased standard of living, reduction of the patient's own expenses for medicine); availability and quality of medical services (introduction of the principle of safety of medical services, quality control systems, maximum coverage of medical services, improvement of legislation in the field of circulation of medicinal products); optimization of the structure of medical institutions and personnel protection (by developing rules of conduct for health care workers, introducing a new model of internship and medical residency).