Heath care for children, maternity care and childbirth will be covered by funds in the state budget, Deputy Health Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Kovtoniuk has said.

"Childbirth, maternity care and children's health care are included in the guaranteed package," he told the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

Kovtoniuk said the "medical portion" of palliative care would also be covered using state budget funds.

"Ukraine's Ministry of Social Policy handles social assistance and nursing, but the medical portion [of palliative care] will be covered in full," he said.

"If hospices appear in Ukraine, palliative departments will be opened in hospitals. If we push the development of the system a little, the corresponding medical institutions will emerge," the deputy health minister said.

As earlier reported, 227 Verkhovna Rada members on Thursday voted to adopt bill No. 6327 on state financial guarantees for medical services and medicines, but failed to pass bill No. 6329 on introducing changes to the Budget Code in the part on financing health care. Both pieces of legislation are part of Ukraine's health reform.