Large-scale construction of the first 517 new rural clinics of mono- and group practice began in Ukraine. 10 have already been put into operation in the Kirovohrad Oblast and are fully operational. A well-developed network of 4223 rural clinics has been developed and formed together with the Ministry of Health. There is a need for new construction of 688 establishments. 514 service cars are being purchased for family doctors. With the support of partners from the World Bank, the handbook – terms of reference for telemedicine implementation in outpatient clinics – was developed.

This was emphasised by Hennadii Zubko, Vice-Prime Minister – Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, during the conference call on the state of implementation of the rural healthcare reform.

“All oblasts have already come to projects’ implementation. And in 2019, all rural outpatient clinics, within the framework of the reform, should be put into operation. Now we are approaching the introduction of telemedicine in rural clinics. There is an expression that “Medications against the disease are not in the doctor's first aid kit, but in his/her head”. By introducing telemedicine, we just give a family farmer a unique opportunity to get professional advice from a highly specialised doctor regarding the diagnosis or treatment. Our handbook is a manual, which we will definitely pass on to the regions for help,” said Hennadii Zubko.

Currently, telemedicine testing is going to start in rural outpatient clinics of the Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava Oblasts in terms of 4 nosologies: cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, bronchial asthma and dermatological diseases. In the near future, the oblasts should identify such outpatient clinics.

The official stressed that the goal of the reform is not about the construction of new outpatient facilities or installation of medical equipment. “We are talking about reducing mortality and the number of new diseases, at the same time – increasing the number of people to be monitored after an endured disease. And the main thing is to increase the life expectancy of Ukrainians directly in the countryside,” Hennadii Zubko said.

He thanked international partners from the Government of Canada and the World Bank with whom the Memorandum was signed. The document clearly identifies the key goals of implementing the primary healthcare reform in rural areas and international assistance attraction not only for infrastructure development, but also for the introduction of a new quality of medical services provided by family doctors, including telemedicine.

Hennadii Zubko also expressed his gratitude to the Canadian Embassy in Ukraine, the EDGE project, the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN), World Bank consultants, who have prepared software development ToR to introduce telemedicine.v