29 June 2021, Tuesday, 19:09 129

Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Will Appear In All Regions Of Country From July 1 - Health Ministry

Редактор: Daria Zubkova

From July 1, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will appear in all regions of the country.

The Ministry of Health has said this in a statement, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"The transformation of the public health system starts in Ukraine. Newly created Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will start operating in the regions from July 1, 2021. From July 1, 2021, in accordance with the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of February 17, 2021 No. 1121, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) will start working in all regions of Ukraine and in the city of Kyiv," the statement reads.

According to the statement, the new public health system is primarily aimed at developing a strong vertical of epidemic control in the regions.

"CDCPs are created by combining existing regional capacities - laboratory centers, regional public health centers, statistical units and monitoring and evaluation departments. These centers will be fully responsible for disease control in the region - from routine monitoring of indicators to forecasting, identifying emergencies, outbreaks and responding to them," the statement reads.

The main functions of the CDCP will be to ensure epidemiological surveillance, sanitary and epidemic well-being of the population, protect the population from infectious diseases, prevent non-infectious diseases, support biological safety and biological protection, epidemiological surveillance, immunization, educational work on a healthy lifestyle and preventing risk factors, combating antimicrobial resistance, responding to health hazards and health emergencies, etc.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has become a challenge for epidemic control systems and public health around the world. In Ukraine, it also found gaps in rapid coordination and rapid response. In addition, the medical system has not had significant updates over 30 years of independence and was not fully prepared for an effective response to SARS-CoV-2," said Deputy Minister – Senior Medical Officer Ihor Kuzin.

The experience of the pandemic has clearly articulated the need to redefine roles, responsibilities and interactions in the area of disease control and biosafety, he said.

“The first thing we are introducing is the transition from a decentralized system to a clearly managed vertical structure. All 25 regional centers will be subordinate to the Ministry of Health by vertical of the senior medical officer. Organizational and methodological guidance will be provided by the Public Health Center. This should ensure a quick response to new challenges, pandemic, as well as coordinated work on other challenges in the field of public health," Kuzin explained.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Ministry of Health has already spent UAH 7.9 billion on vaccination against coronavirus, another UAH 2.6 billion remains unused.