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20 May 2005 17:42

The Ukraine 3000 Charitable Foundation Launched a New Project, Hospital to Hospital

On May 19 Head of the Supervisory Board of the Ukraine 3000 Charitable Foundation Kateryna Yushchenko announced the start of the Foundation’s new project, Hospital to Hospital, at the Bohdan and Varavara Khanenkos Museum.

Opening the ceremony, Mrs. Yushchenko said that, according to the International Labor Organization’s reports, one third of the Ukrainians aged from 10 to 25 are unhealthy. “Our children are our future, and we have to be positive that our future is healthy, has a productive life, and is happy,” she said.

Ukraine’s first lady said that the Ministry of Health of Ukraine started a drastic reform of the healthcare system, and that the President and the government had qualified this system as a priority in the governmental and budget policies.

Speaking about the Hospital to Hospital program, Mrs. Yushchenko said that there were great examples of similar programs in the past. "They had been implemented in Ukraine by Japan, the US, Germany, Sweden, etc. Today we would like to extend this experience to a bigger number of hospitals in all Ukraine regions,” she said.

The program’s goal is increasing the effectiveness and quality of medical services, improving the Ukrainians’ health through attracting domestic and foreign financial, technological and intellectual resources on a voluntary basis.

The Foundation’s new program envisages establishing stable connection between 26 Ukrainian hospitals and their partners in Europe, the US, Canada, Japan, and other countries. Establishing direct connection between the so-called sister hospitals will create conditions for effective exchange with modern technologies, scientific information, medicine and equipment, practical experience in diagnostics and treatment, enabling immediate communication between professionals. Besides, the Foundation is planning to attract funds and humanitarian aid for Ukraine’s medical institutions participating in this program. Considering the complicated situation around healthcare in Ukraine, lagging behind the global level, it becomes obvious that it will be hard for the state to solve this complex problem without support from the non-governmental sector.

The program is scheduled for five years. Its implementation will grant Ukrainian hospitals a chance to find reliable partners and rise to the level of modern standards in medical treatment.

Diplomatic representatives of European countries, the US, Canada, and Japan were invited to the program’s opening along with His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent (Great Britain). From the Ukrainian side, Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk and Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine Sviatoslav Khanenko were present.

Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk believes the Hospital to Hospital project most expedient for Ukraine. “The program’s initiators deserve public respect and sincere gratitude. The Orange Revolution, in addition to fascinating the world, had brought Ukraine many new friends. Today the friends of the Orange Revolution are prepared to give all possible support , in part, to the Hospital to Hospital project,” he said. Minister Tarasiuk stated his confidence in the fact that the project will prove helpful for the Ukrainians, favoring the establishment of stronger ties between the Ukrainians and people in other countries and helping to rise the medical services’ quality in Ukraine to the global standards.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, which I have the honor to represent here, and our embassies abroad will do everything possible to help to identify partner hospital in various countries and establish connection between them and their Ukrainian counterparts through the Ministry of Health,” the foreign minister said.

His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent wished every success to the Hospital to Hospital project, expressing his hope to join it in the future.