Currently, Ukraine is classified by WHO as a high-priority country with a significant burden of drug-resistant tuberculosis and ranks fourth in the rate of spread of this disease in the WHO European Region. According to the Public Health Center, in 2023, there were 19,851 cases of active tuberculosis registered in our country, including 639 among children under 14 years old, and 196 among teenagers aged 15-17 years.

“The early diagnosis and detection system for tuberculosis remains a priority direction of state policy in the field of health care. This is especially true for patient access to medical services in de-occupied territories and in frontline cities and villages. In the Mykolaiv region, during 2023, 710 patients with an active form of the disease were registered, while in 2022 — 531 patients. Therefore, at the intersectoral level, the Ministry of Health, together with international partners and public organizations, is expanding patient access to services aimed at early detection and continuous medication provision, regardless of changes in residence. The country-level work to overcome tuberculosis as a disease that poses a threat to public health and is simultaneously amenable to effective treatment continues uninterrupted,” said Deputy Minister of Health, Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Ihor Kuzin during a working trip to the Mykolaiv region at a meeting on combating HIV and tuberculosis.

Last year, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved the law №9147 on combating tuberculosis, which takes into account the legal aspects of regulation according to Ukraine’s international legal obligations in the field of European integration and key WHO recommendations. Over the past year at the regional levels, it has been possible to strengthen cooperation between health care institutions and establish a system for detecting new cases of tuberculosis and ensuring timely treatment and continuation of therapy, especially for patients who, due to the war, were forced to leave their homes and move to other regions.

Despite the full-scale war, the Ukrainian medical system ensures patient access to free diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis. As part of the cooperation of the committees of the National Council on TB and HIV/AIDS, a number of program activities have been updated and planned at the national and regional levels this year. In particular, improving the system for detecting and monitoring new cases of diseases while working with internally displaced persons to ensure access to tuberculosis services.

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