The National Conference on Noncommunicable Diseases: achievements and further state priorities took place on 28-29th of May in Kyiv. The event was organized by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine in partnership with the World Health Organization and supported by The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. One of the speakers of the conference was Oleh Petrenko, the Head of the NHSU.
Noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, obstructive pulmonary diseases, and mental illnesses constitute a major threat to the health of Ukrainians. The recent statistic data shows that almost 84% of all deaths in Ukraine are caused by those diseases. The most widespread are cardiovascular diseases, they cause 62% of all deaths.
“We have achieved significant progress thanks to the transformation of the healthcare system on its first stage. More than 27.6 million of Ukrainians have already carried out their legal right of a free family doctor choice into practice. Because of their declaration, patients receive medical services in diagnostics, prevention, and treatment of noncommunicable diseases. First aid institutions receive payments from NHSU for providing these services.
Implementation of the renovated program “Affordable drugs”, and electronic drug order also were important steps for Ukraine. These let patients receive medical drugs for cardiovascular diseases, bronchial asthma, and type two diabetes by means of budget funds. Implementing electronic drug orders starting from this April gave us an opportunity to understand the dynamics of how noncommunicable diseases spread: in the electronic healthcare system we are able to see who gave the drug order, to whom, and who received the drug.
Moreover, noncommunicable diseases should be seen as our priority in terms of developing the Program of medical guarantees, which is expected to start working in its entirety from 2020”, - said Oleh Petrenko at the Conference.