Development of a modern public health system
The overall objective of this project is to support the modernization and development of a sustainable Public Health System (PHS) that is able to ensure disease prevention and control standards in line with EU legislation, requirements and practices. The three project results of this project are:
- The State Institution “Public Health Center” of the MoH of Ukraine (UPHC) is consolidated and operates in line with scientific, technological and epidemiological changes.
- A modern Blood Safety System for Ukraine has been built and made sustainable.
- Communication and project visibility are ensured.
Further, in order to support the national Sars-Cov-19 response, the project provides additional technical advisory services on COVID-19 since the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic impacted the entire public health system in Ukraine. The additional advisory services will be interlinked with the two main result areas:
I. The pandemic reveals the importance of a functional epidemiological surveillance system, including well-prepared laboratories, contact tracing and efficient communication lines to address the population and provide evidence-based information.
II. The pandemic demonstrates that blood safety and availability is crucial. One of the current problems is that blood establishments in most countries, including Ukraine, are deficient in terms of knowledge, strategies, plans and operational procedures. Ukraine cannot ensure enough blood for the healthcare system, and maintain its own supplies of teasing reagents and consumables. The blood safety system requires protocols for the collection and clinical use of convalescent plasma more than ever since it is one of the possible lines of prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-19 infection.
Therefore, the project will respond to this need and support the UPHC and regional public health centers (rPHCs) as well as the blood transfusion services in Ukraine to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and its detrimental, inadvertent consequences. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of relevant personnel and develop or update, if any, guidelines and protocols for pandemic situations. In addition, the intention is to develop information communication lines between the MoH, the UPHC, different stakeholders, and the public. This will help health systems in Ukraine to be more responsive, adaptive and flexible, which are hallmarks of resilience.
