The capacity of the rehabilitation system in Ukraine has more than doubled

The capacity of the rehabilitation system in Ukraine has more than doubled. This was stated by the Minister of Health of Ukraine during his speech on the topic “Development of rehabilitation in Ukraine” in the framework of the International Rehabilitation Forum, which was held in Lviv. 

“Every day of a full-scale war costs us the lives and health of many Ukrainians. The number of those who receive various types of injuries and need further rehabilitation assistance is growing. We are working to expand the availability of rehabilitation services. Everyone who needs such assistance should be able to get it, and get high-quality ones," Viktor Liashko said. "We have already managed to more than double the number of rehabilitation sessions that specialists working in medical institutions under the package “Rehabilitation assistance for adults and children in inpatient settings” can provide per day – up to about 8,000. Furthermore, if we restore a person, a person will restore everything.”

The foundation for building a modern rehabilitation system was laid back in 2021 with the entry into force of the Law of Ukraine "On rehabilitation in the field of Healthcare". The impetus for further development was given by the Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 369/2021 of 18.08.2021, which puts into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council "On the state of the national healthcare system and urgent measures to provide Ukrainian citizens with medical care". Since then, the ministry has begun to develop measures to ensure the provision of full-fledged rehabilitation assistance to citizens from the first day of treatment with an injury or illness.

According to the minister, today there are already successes in the development of an effective and modern rehabilitation system: 

• due to the increase in the number of medical institutions contracted for rehabilitation packages and the number of specialists, the system's capacity has more than doubled,
• the practical implementation of the ICF has begun, which is a prerequisite for the unification of approaches,
• institutions subordinate to the Ministry of Social Policy are already being contracted by the NHSU under the medical guarantee program,
• a number of amendments to the legislation have been adopted, which helps to quickly provide auxiliary rehabilitation facilities without the need for the conclusion of the Medical and social expert commission.     

Also, the development of rehabilitation infrastructure is an integral part of the third stage of the reform – the formation of a hospital network of capable medical institutions. Each cluster and supercluster hospital will have an inpatient rehabilitation department.

However, rehabilitation services are relevant not only in connection with injuries received directly as a result of the war. Every year in Ukraine, about 100 thousand cases of stroke are recorded. The deterioration of the psychoemotional state and exacerbation of chronic diseases will potentially lead to a rejuvenation of these cardiovascular diseases and an even greater increase in the number of patients. Therefore, another important area of the ministry's work is ensuring the quality and accessibility of rehabilitation services for these patients.
You can listen to the full speech of the minister at the International Rehabilitation Forum and get more information about the development of the rehabilitation system in Ukraine on the official channel of the Ministry of Health at the link .