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The World Health Organization is ready to assist Ukraine in implementing the provisions of the European Union acquis in the field of healthcare. In particular, the WHO plans to contribute to the formation of regulatory priorities after the completion of self-screening, as well as to provide expert and technical support in the process of adapting Ukrainian legislation to EU law.

“We are very grateful to the World Health Organization for its systematic support and readiness to further expand our cooperation in the European integration area of the Ministry of Health, as many of the norms and standards that WHO helps to implement in the Ukrainian healthcare system directly overlap with EU directives. There is a lot of work ahead, especially in the area of public health. Thanks to WHO's technical and expert support, we will be able to speed up this process,” said Deputy Minister of Health Maryna Slobodnichenko.

As part of its preparations for EU membership negotiations, Ukraine is currently undergoing a self-screening procedure. This is a process of the initial assessment of Ukrainian legislation for compliance with current EU law. In total, more than 27,000 pieces of legislation, divided into 35 thematic sections of the future membership agreement, need to be assessed as part of this process. In particular, the Ministry of Health has to review more than 700 healthcare regulations.

“The WHO’s long-term partnership in Ukraine and experience in many European countries, as well as knowledge in the regulatory sphere, is a valuable asset that we bring to the ongoing process of approximation to the EU legal framework in the country. We already support the public health and medicines sectors, with more planned in the coming years. We want to see progress in the field of regulation, as well as increase the capacity of institutions, as the most important thing is to implement best practices and standards and improve people’s health,” said Dr. Jarno Habicht, WHO Country Director for Ukraine.

For reference: the procedure for assessing Ukrainian legislation for compliance with EU law began in March this year. It is planned that ministries and other central executive authorities will complete the self-screening by June 30, 2023, and by August 30, they will prepare and submit a report to the government with specific proposals for harmonizing sectoral legislation in accordance with EU law.