France to allocate additional €12 million for healthcare in Ukraine
France will allocate an additional €12 million for the urgent needs of Ukraine's healthcare sector.
According to the Ministry of Health, the key areas for allocating the funds were discussed by Health Minister Viktor Liashko during a meeting with the French President's Special Envoy for Relief and Reconstruction of Ukraine Pierre Elbrun, Ukrinform reports.
"I am grateful to the government and people of France for their continued comprehensive support of Ukraine. Together, we are working to ensure that the Ukrainian healthcare system continues to demonstrate resilience and has the potential for development despite all the challenges of a full-scale war. We have many long-term projects, as well as those that allow us to respond quickly to emergency challenges so that Ukrainians have access to the necessary medical care," said Lyashko.
It is noted that the €12 million allocated for the next year for emergency healthcare support in Ukraine will be used to implement mental health projects, improve cancer diagnostics, restore medical facilities in Chernihiv region, and create a separate fund for the purchase of medical equipment in response to urgent needs.
In addition, the meeting discussed plans to expand the international medical partnership program, which was launched in September this year in Kyiv as part of the Third Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen. 10 medical institutions from different parts of France have already become "twinned" with Ukrainian hospitals from Kyiv, Lviv, Ternopil, and Uzhhorod. A new wave of partnerships is expected soon. The practice of direct in-depth cooperation between twin hospitals is proving to be effective. It allows medical professionals to regularly exchange experience and adopt best practices to develop the medical systems of both countries.
A separate issue of cooperation is the involvement of specialists from French agencies to provide expert support in the creation of a new independent state body in Ukraine that will be responsible for registration and control of the market of medicines, medical devices, cosmetics and dietary supplements. The Ministry of Health is currently working on the formation of an Advisory Board. Highly qualified specialists from Ukraine, other countries and international organizations will be invited to join the Council to ensure absolute transparency of the process.
According to the ministry, attention was also paid to the status of intergovernmental agreements on the purchase of 30 modern innovative mammography machines and the construction of modular departments in existing hospitals where patients will be provided with emergency care, in particular at the Borodyansky Central District Hospital. Currently, both agreements are at the final stage of approval by all involved executive authorities.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, according to the Ministry of Health, over the 20 months of war, Russia has damaged 1468 medical facilities and destroyed another 193.
Photo: MINISTRY OF HEALTH