The topic of the Government Question Hour was determined by the Conciliation Council of parliamentary factions and groups in accordance with Article 229 of the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine: the implementation of state policy in the field of healthcare and the safeguarding of sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the population amid current challenges.
Before the report began, the parliamentary chamber separately emphasised that the plenary sitting was being held in an open format. Therefore, members of the Government and MPs were asked to refrain from disclosing information that could harm Ukraine’s national security or contain restricted data.
Yet even without closed details, the overall picture presented by the Minister was sufficiently revealing. Ukraine’s healthcare system has been operating for five consecutive years without a real period of stability: first during the COVID-19 pandemic, and then under the pressure of Russia’s full-scale war. That is why the discussion in Parliament was not only about healthcare tariffs, salaries, or individual programmes. It was about whether healthcare in Ukraine has become part of the country’s national resilience architecture.
Five Years of Crises — and No Pause for the System
At the beginning of his speech, Viktor Liashko recalled that the following week would mark five years since he had taken office as Minister of Health of Ukraine. During this period, the sector has gone through two extraordinary modes of operation — the pandemic and the full-scale war.
Despite this, according to the Minister, Ukraine managed to preserve the continuity of medical care and avoid halting the transformation of the healthcare system. This point is important: the Government seeks to present healthcare not as a sector merely preventing collapse, but as a system that continues to evolve even under unprecedented pressure.
Liashko separately thanked Ukrainian medical professionals — doctors, nurses, emergency medical workers, and rehabilitation specialists. In the parliamentary chamber, this did not sound like a routine protocol phrase, but rather as recognition that human capital has become the foundation of the system’s resilience.
Funding Has Grown. The Next Question Is How It Is Managed
One of the key parts of the report concerned the financial sustainability of healthcare. Viktor Liashko stressed that stable funding of the healthcare system and the Medical Guarantees Programme remains one of the Government’s core priorities.
While in 2020 the budget of the Medical Guarantees Programme amounted to UAH 72 billion, in 2026 it has already exceeded UAH 191 billion. The Minister described this as the largest volume of state-guaranteed medical care in Ukraine’s history.
Key healthcare funding figures for 2026
UAH 27.3 billion — primary healthcare
UAH 13.5 billion — emergency medical care
UAH 137.6 billion — specialised medical care
Special attention is being paid to healthcare in frontline territories. The Government continues to apply enhanced funding for medical facilities, additional coefficients, and a dedicated package aimed at preserving medical staff in areas directly affected by the war. The Ministry plans to extend this package into the second half of 2026.
At the same time, the Minister emphasised that increased funding does not automatically guarantee fair remuneration for medical professionals. In April 2026, the average salary of an emergency care physician reached UAH 41.7 thousand, which is UAH 10.5 thousand more than in 2025. In primary care, the average salary of a doctor in March stood at UAH 30.5 thousand, although, according to the Ministry’s modelling, the available funding allows the figure to approach UAH 35 thousand.
This is one of the most important political signals of the report. Healthcare reform has given medical institutions broader autonomy, but with it came significantly greater managerial responsibility. Whether state resources ultimately reach doctors in the form of decent salaries now depends not only on central funding, but also on hospital management, local communities, and municipal authorities.
The growth of public healthcare funding shifts the debate to a new level: the question is no longer only how much money has been allocated, but also how responsibly it is managed at the local level.
A Hospital Must Keep Working Even Under Attack
In wartime, a medical institution is no longer simply a place of treatment. It is part of critical civilian infrastructure that must remain operational during shelling, power outages, disruptions to water supply, or heat shortages.
That is why a separate part of the Minister’s report was dedicated to the energy and utility autonomy of hospitals.
Hospital resilience in figures
367 out of 643 facilities in the capable healthcare network are fully autonomous
513 have autonomous heating systems
408 have autonomous water supply
52 solid-fuel boiler houses are being transferred to hospitals as backup heat sources
Solar generation is becoming another strategic direction. Today, 251 facilities within the capable healthcare network are already equipped with solar power systems. By the end of 2026, the Ministry of Health, together with its partners, plans to install solar power plants in another 378 medical institutions.
These figures matter not only as technical reporting. They point to a change in the very logic of healthcare policy. Ukraine is gradually moving from emergency response to a model in which a hospital is designed and modernised as an institution capable of functioning under prolonged external pressure.
Investment in Hospitals Is Investment in Time That Cannot Be Lost
In 2026, according to the Minister, 42 investment projects in 18 regions of Ukraine are being implemented for a total amount of UAH 4.5 billion. At the same time, the supply of high-cost medical equipment to hospitals continues.
The Minister stressed that modernising healthcare facilities is not about renovated walls or visually impressive technology alone. It is primarily about the ability to detect disease in time, avoid losing critical hours, and deliver quality treatment.
The Heart of the Country: From Screening to Cardiac Surgery
Viktor Liashko stated that nine out of ten deaths in Ukraine are associated with non-communicable diseases, while cardiovascular diseases claim more than one thousand lives every day.
This is not merely medical statistics. It is a direct loss of the country’s human potential at a time when Ukraine is already bearing immense demographic, economic, and wartime costs.
That is why the Ministry of Health is developing the “Healthy Heart” direction — from prevention to treatment and rehabilitation. Since 1 January 2026, Ukraine has been implementing the “Health Screening 40+” programme, designed to detect risk factors for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and mental health disorders at an earlier stage.
Access to planned stenting has also been expanded. It is now free of charge for patients, just like emergency stenting.
For cardiac surgery in 2026, according to the Minister, UAH 5.008 billion has been allocated — more than UAH 2.12 billion above the previous year’s level.
The Government’s logic is changing: not only to treat consequences, but to identify risks earlier, intervene in time, and reduce the loss of human potential.
Affordable Medicines: Treatment Must Be Not Only Prescribed, but Truly Accessible
A separate part of the report concerned the “Affordable Medicines” programme, which enables patients to receive necessary medicines free of charge or with partial co-payment.
The programme currently includes 778 medicine positions. It has already been used by 6 million Ukrainians, while medicines can be obtained at more than 17 thousand dispensing locations across the country.
A further expansion is planned from July 2026: the programme is expected to include more than fifty additional positions under international non-proprietary names and over one hundred dosage forms of cardiovascular and antithrombotic medicines.
This is a crucial social dimension of reform. For patients, a state medical guarantee matters only when it turns into real access — to a doctor, a procedure, a prescription, and the medicines themselves.
Rehabilitation and Mental Health — Healthcare for a Country at War
A special place in Viktor Liashko’s report was given to universal access to healthcare, with the needs of veterans explicitly taken into account. The Minister emphasised that universality is the key principle, and rehabilitation clearly shows how the healthcare system is adapting to wartime realities.
Today, more than 370 medical institutions provide free inpatient rehabilitation services, while 530 offer rehabilitation on an outpatient basis.
Multidisciplinary rehabilitation teams now employ 12 thousand specialists. This is eight times more than in 2022.
The 2026 budget provides UAH 7.5 billion for outpatient and inpatient rehabilitation — more than UAH 1 billion above the previous year’s level.
This scale demonstrates that rehabilitation is no longer an “additional” segment of healthcare. For a country at war, it becomes one of the central pillars of state policy aimed at returning people to life, work, family, and community.
Equally important is the development of mental health support under the nationwide “Ty Yak?” (“How Are You?”) programme initiated by First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska.
Mental health support
over 3 thousand healthcare facilities provide such support
2,500 primary care facilities offer basic services
195 mental health centres operate for more complex cases
138 facilities provide psychological support in inpatient settings
In practice, mental health is no longer treated as a peripheral matter of public policy. It is entering the standard architecture of healthcare — alongside primary care, rehabilitation, and specialised treatment.
Digital Healthcare and Vaccination as Markers of System Capacity
The Minister also highlighted the development of Ukraine’s Electronic Healthcare System. It already includes more than 17 thousand healthcare providers of all forms of ownership and 3,800 pharmacies.
The system centrally stores medical information on more than 34 million Ukrainians. Every visit to a doctor, examination, referral, or other interaction with the healthcare system is recorded electronically. The number of such records has already exceeded 5 billion.
This means that digitalisation is no longer a separate reform storyline. It has become the operational foundation of healthcare — a way to make the system more transparent, more manageable, and closer to the patient.
Another indicator of system capacity is preventive vaccination. According to the results of 2025, most vaccination coverage indicators in Ukraine exceeded 90%. For a country living through war, population displacement, and pressure on medical infrastructure, this is not a minor statistic, but evidence that the basic functions of public health continue to operate.
The Regional Dimension: What the Health Ministry’s Report Means for Communities
Parliament’s conversation about healthcare matters not only at the level of central government. Its real meaning becomes visible in communities — where people assess public policy not by the size of budget lines, but by whether a hospital remains operational during power cuts, whether rehabilitation is available after injury, whether medicines can be obtained, and whether the system is able to detect disease before it becomes critical.
Ruslan Shamrin, Member of the Kryvyi Rih City Council, Member of the Standing Commission of the Kryvyi Rih City Council on the Implementation of the City Development Strategy and Investments:
“For communities, healthcare has long been about much more than simply having a hospital or an outpatient clinic. It is about whether the medical system can continue operating under energy risks, whether it can receive people affected by the war, whether rehabilitation, medicines, and preventive programmes are genuinely accessible. For industrial regions, large communities, and territories facing increased social pressure, this is especially tangible. That is why the priorities voiced during the Government Question Hour should be assessed not only by the amount of funding allocated, but also by how quickly they turn into real services for people at the local level.”
This regional dimension is fundamental. Modern healthcare policy in Ukraine is no longer solely the responsibility of the Ministry or hospitals. It is a matter of shared responsibility between central government, communities, healthcare facility managers, and local administrative teams.
The Government Question Hour on 15 May 2026 demonstrated that healthcare in Ukraine is becoming less of a purely social sector and more of an institution of national resilience.
Whether a hospital can function without external electricity, whether a veteran receives quality rehabilitation, whether a person can undergo screening in time and obtain the medicines they need — these are not only questions of individual health. They affect the quality of life in communities, the preservation of human capital, and the country’s ability to withstand war without irreversible losses.
Viktor Liashko’s final message summarised the entire Government report: despite the war, constant attacks on medical infrastructure, and an enormous burden on the system, Ukraine has not put healthcare reform on hold.
And today, this is the key measure of state capacity: not merely to endure, but to keep changing at the very moment when the country is going through the most difficult test in its modern history
