Government approves program to develop Ukrainian villages

The government has approved amendments to the government’s target program for development of Ukrainian villages until 2015, the Information-analytical Bulletin of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine informs.

According to the Ministry of Health, the need to update the state program is related to the necessity to build, reconstruct, repair and upgrade primary health care facilities in rural areas.

It is envisioned that implementation of the proposed changes will require additional budgetary allocations for construction, reconstruction, repair and upgrade of out-patient hospitals to the sum of 1882.6 million UAH. Of this figure, it is planned to invest 273.4 million UAH in 2013, and 1609.2 million UAH in 2014.

Funds for implementation of the program shall be committed by the Ministry of Agricultural Policy and Food and the Ministry of Finance in drafting the state budget.

Furthermore, the government will change the source of funding for these projects. 

Now they are not funded directly from the state budget, but by subventions from the state budget to local budgets. According to the Ministry of Health, it will enable maximization of performance of allocated funds. Clearly, it would be inefficient to manage from Kyiv financing of construction or renovation of hospitals, polyclinics etc. in any regional center or village.

According to the ministry’s experts, concentration of state resources, in the first place for financing health institutions and providing primary medical care is associated with the importance of this sector in the entire health care system. They emphasize that development of primary health care services (PHCS) should become a priority for the state.

Primary health care is the foundation of the entire health care system. It lays the foundation of public health, bears the greatest responsibility for its loss, defines rational and efficient use of healthcare resources.

Experts emphasize that first and foremost the state plans to finance primary health care institutions in rural areas. At present, they are the most under-funded. Rural areas have a higher mortality rate than in the cities. This is largely due to the fact that the initial stage of serious diseases is overlooked. This, in turn, is due to a lack of PHCS and necessary equipment in rural areas.