Ukrainian officials meet international TB organizations
On 31 May 2017, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine hosted a meeting with the participation of international guests – Baroness Alison Suttie, Life Peer in the UK House of Lords, Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director of the STOP TB Partnership, Colleen Daniels, Human Rights, Gender and TB/HIV Advisor. Ukrainian stakeholders were represented by the Deputy Minister of Health Oxana Syvak, Head of the National Center for Public Health Nataliya Nizova, and Andrey Klepikov, Executive Director of the Alliance of Public Health with the Alliance’s TB team on board. The WHO was represented by Head of Country Office to Ukraine Dr. Marthe Everard.
The issues of success and challenges of Ukraine in TB Control and care have been discussed, as well as the ways to enhance the partnerships between all the stakeholders on the country level.
Baroness Alison Suttie said: “I see my role as trying to provide a bridge between the Parliament, Government and civil society. We should all try to work with each other, rather than against each other to make this triangle work – with the legislature making the laws, civil society bringing in expertise and Government making the changes happen.”
Lucica Ditiu emphasized that on the way of transitioning to people-centered care, everyone should try and put themselves in the patient’s shoes – imagining how hard it is to take a medicine for such a long treatment and how brave one should be to move on.
The role of the Ministry of Finance in the ongoing medical care reform and promotion of the public health approaches was also discussed – an effective reallocation of money in the TB care should happen – with savings used effectively, for example on providing social support measures to the patient.
The current #TB_REP National Working Group is one of the existing platforms for ongoing communication between all Ukrainian stakeholders. Under the leadership of the National TB-REP Coordinator, an effective working group with patients and diverse stakeholders on board will have a potential to provide a consolidated response for positive change towards people-centered TB care.
Source: TB Europe Coalition
