The Ministry of Health and the World Bank are implementing three major healthcare projects

The World Bank Portfolio Review Meeting was attended by representatives of ministries, government agencies, and beneficiary institutions implementing projects in cooperation with the World Bank.

Since 2015, Ukraine and the World Bank have been partners in healthcare reform. Currently, three major projects are being implemented as part of the cooperation:

1. Improving healthcare in the service of people.
2. Emergency response to COVID-19 and vaccination in Ukraine.
3. Strengthening the healthcare system and saving lives.

During the war in 2022, these projects procured critically needed medical and diagnostic equipment worth over 37 million dollars. More than 630 medical facilities received portable X-ray and ultrasound machines, electrocardiographs, syringe and infusion pumps, vacuum wound therapy systems. In 2023, as part of the projects, modern intraosseous vascular access systems for infusion and medication therapy, crucial in wartime conditions, have been procured.

The first project, “Improving health care in the service of people”, was launched in 2015. During this time, medical facilities in 8 oblasts of Ukraine, including Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Poltava, have been successfully modernized and are currently providing assistance to those affected by the war. In total, the project has procured over 114,000 units of medical equipment, automotive transport, ambulances, and mobile outpatient clinics. More than 45,000 healthcare professionals and managers have received training as part of this project.

Within the framework of the first project, the prevention, and treatment system for circulatory diseases has been improved in Volyn, Zaporizhzhia, and Rivne oblasts. Oncology prevention and effective antitumor technologies have been introduced in Lviv oblast. An innovative model for providing services to hypertensive patients has been implemented in Poltava oblast. Currently, the construction of a new building for the Vinnytsia Medical Diagnostic Center for Cardiovascular Pathology is nearing completion.

Thanks to the implementation of the “Emergency response to COVID-19 and vaccination in Ukraine” project, equipment for vaccine storage has been replaced in our country. A modern vaccine storage system has been established, ensuring compliance with the cold chain. Healthcare facilities and regional disease control and prevention centers are equipped with WHO-prequalified refrigerators and freezers, a total of 5,168 units, at a cost of 14.7 million USD. In addition, within the framework of expanded project support, contracts have been signed for the purchase of 14 angiographs with neurointerventional functions for hospitals establishing stroke centers and 24 computer tomographs.

Within the “Strengthening the healthcare system and saving lives” project, work is ongoing to select medical facilities in need of restoration and repairs or reconstruction. Since the beginning of the war, 186 medical facilities have been completely destroyed due to shelling, and an additional 1,600 facilities have been damaged. Within this project, 200 primary healthcare facilities have been identified for the installation of solar panels, inverters, and battery banks to not only use solar energy as a power source but also to store it. The selection of projects to secure funding for the reconstruction and restoration of the affected medical facilities is ongoing, with 170 applications being processed.