Ministry of Health has been tasked with restoring Okhmatdyt - Shmyhal

The Ministry of Health has been tasked with restoring the Okhmatdyt children's hospital, which was damaged by a Russian strike last July. This was announced by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during a government meeting, speaking about the priorities in healthcare and education for the year, UNN reports.

Details

"We also plan to build and completely renovate 15 important medical facilities worth more than UAH 2.6 billion. The selected projects include the Kovcheh underground hospital, oncology and rehabilitation centers. Separately, the Ministry of Health has been tasked with restoring Okhmatdyt," Shmyhal said.

"This year will see the largest expansion of the Affordable Medicines program. We will allocate a record budget of UAH 6.6 billion for this purpose. We will add 30 new active substances, and thanks to this, an additional 500 thousand Ukrainians will be able to significantly reduce treatment costs," Shmyhal said.

The Prime Minister noted that the implementation of the "School Offline" policy will continue in the education sector.

He also said that more than UAH 6 billion is being allocated for school shelters. Almost UAH 1 billion is allocated for the modernization of canteens and school canteens. UAH 1.6 billion is allocated for the purchase of Ukrainian-made school buses. UAH 2.8 billion will be allocated for free hot meals for primary school students.

"Such significant amounts demonstrate the importance of modernizing education for us, which also includes continuing the New Ukrainian School reform and launching a high school pilot. Separately, we will work to ensure that a military or military-patriotic lyceum appears in every region," said Shmyhal.

In addition, according to him, the higher education sector will continue the program of grants for students and should be enshrined in the relevant legislative framework.

Addendum

In October 2024, the medical director of Okhmatdyt, Serhiy Chernyshuk , explained why the hospital's reconstruction would not be completed in 2024. The reason is that the procedure for selecting a contractor has been changed, which requires more time. Also, a more detailed examination was repeated, which at that time was at the final stage.

On November 1, 2024, Health Minister Viktor Lyashko reported that priority emergency work had been carried out at the Okhmatdyt hospital and that it was ready to operate in the autumn and winter.