The reduction of spending on healthcare by 5% provided in the draft national budget will be compensated by the rational use of the fund, Deputy Health Minister of Ukraine Ihor Perehynets has said.

"The reduction of expenses on healthcare by UAH 2.5 billion is around 5% and it was only due to regional subventions. It is important that the reduction of the budget would not affect the quality of medical aid. After the budget is passed, we will look for additional sources using internal resources to have a chance to finance institutions," he said at a press conference on Monday.

One of the mechanisms of rational use of funds is the reduction of the number of beds in medical institutions by some 25%.

"We will adjust the reduction of the budget thanks to the decision to reduce the number of beds. Regions will cut the number of beds and will send the funds to improve the quality of medical services. It was decided to reduce the limit from 80 to 60 beds per 10,000 people, or by 25%," he said.

"The major part of the funds provided is used inefficiently. This will be a stress factor that will stimulate the changes in the healthcare system. The quality of medical services provided in the regions would not suffer from this," he said.