Speaking at a meeting between the NBU staff and Acting Health Minister Uliana Suprun, NBU Deputy Governor Roman Borysenko said that the National Bank of Ukraine urges Ukrainian MPs to back health care reform.
“Ms Suprun is our partner with whom we implement positive changes in the public sector. Her recent speech at a strategic session of the NBU’s senior management team was a tremendous success. So we couldn’t allow the NBU staff to miss an opportunity to talk to the Acting Health Minister,” said Mr Borysenko. Our institutions have common goals – a healthy banking system and a healthy Ukrainian nation. The NBU, for its part, is prepared to provide maximum support for the public authorities and share its experience in implementing internal transformation. In addition, we are aware of the importance of reforms being pushed through Parliament. Therefore, we wish the Healthcare Ministry to receive support from Parliament.
When thanking the NBU for an invitation to speak in the central bank, Ms Suprun underlined that the Healthcare Ministry strives to follow an example set by the NBU in implementing fundamental institutional transformation.
“I commend the efforts by the NBU. The NBU has made the most significant progress in implementing internal transformation, getting institutional changes entrenched in laws and making them irreversible. We also want to depart from the practice of making political appointments and engage professionals in the reform process. We strive to provide opportunities to develop skills and receive decent salary. I can say that the transformation program of the Healthcare Ministry received a grant from the European Commission and will be funded for five years.
The Head of the Ministry briefed the NBU staff about the main principles underlying the future health care reform: fair and equal access to medical care, the quality of medical services, an opportunity to select a clinic regardless of the patient's place of residence and the ownership pattern of a health care center, state's guarantee of free medical care.
Ms Suprun said that the Ministry strives to bring its health-care system in line with European standards and designed draft laws required to kick-start the health care reform in Ukraine. Ms Suprun said that the team of the Healthcare Ministry has gone through a full cycle of public policy making from visiting all the oblasts of Ukraine to conducting public consultations with the expert community, citizens, patients and medical care workers.
“The fate of the health care reform hinges on whether Ukrainian MPs vote in favor of Draft Laws No. 6327 and No.6604. The public closely watches the health care reform effort. Ukrainians hope that changes would be pushed through Parliament,” said Ms Suprun.