At least $14.2 billion is needed to restore the medical infrastructure destroyed by the aggressor in Ukraine, including the need for 2024 of UAH 900 million.

As Interfax-Ukraine was informed by the Ministry of Health, the assessment of damage and restoration needs (RDNA3) includes costs for infrastructure restoration, additional costs under the Medical Guarantees Program (MGP) necessary to ensure the activities of health facilities and salaries of doctors.

The assessment also takes into account public health impacts, costs and needs for surveillance and emergency preparedness, including increased costs for monitoring drinking water quality, immunization, and control of selected infectious diseases.

The Health Ministry said in 2024, restoration needs amount to UAH 900 million. Funds should, in particular, be allocated to the needs of primary medical care, as well as to minor repairs to restore the functionality of health care institutions, primarily in deoccupied territories.

Investments, in particular, will speed up the restoration of institutions damaged during the war, the restructuring and modernization of outdated rehabilitation and psychiatric medical institutions.

In addition, these funds include preparatory work and design based on the principle of "Build Back Better."

The spending also includes further increases in funding for mental health services, particularly for veterans and victims of violence, expansion of rehabilitation services, screening for noncommunicable diseases, care for people with chronic diseases, and expansion of vaccinations.

At the same time, the Health Ministry said "most medical institutions are municipally owned enterprises, which may affect the completeness of the information received by the Ministry of Health."

According to information provided by the health departments of the Regional State Administration and Kyiv City State Administration, as of April 4, 2024, some 1,574 facilities in 668 medical institutions were damaged in Ukraine and 209 facilities in 97 medical institutions were destroyed.

Including, among the destroyed 43 secondary medical care facilities and 134 primary care facilities.

"It is impossible to obtain full information regarding damage to medical facilities in temporarily occupied territories and in areas of active hostilities," the ministry said.

The department reminds that as part of the program for restoring infrastructure in the healthcare sector for 2024, the subvention from the state budget is UAH 3.98 billion, the total cost of projects is UAH 10.63 billion.

Cash expenditures of the state budget in 2023 amounted to UAH 515.911 million, the total cost of projects for which funding from the state budget was UAH 4.065 billion.

At the same time, restoration projects are co-financed by local budgets, and philanthropists are involved in financing.

The department recalls that within the framework of the joint project of the Ministry of Health and the World Bank "Health Enhancement And Lifesaving" (HEAL Ukraine), $15.532 million were allocated for the restoration, renovation and modernization of medical institutions for 2023-2024.

Currently, six projects have been identified with a total cost of almost UAH 403.5 million.

In addition, in the process of restoring the medical infrastructure and purchasing equipment, a number of charitable organizations are partners of the Ministry of Health, in particular, the Global Fund, Project HOPE, International Organization for Migration, Charitable Foundation "Patients of Ukraine", Doctors Without Borders, Crown Agents, USAID, WHO.

The Ministry of Health also said from July 2022, the formation of a wealthy network of hospitals began, each region became a separate hospital district, which, in turn, was divided into clusters.

Regions where there are no active hostilities are involved in reform and the formation of a wealthy network.

However, a wealthy network is not being implemented in Zaporizhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Mykolaiv regions and in Crimea. These regions will join the formation of a wealthy network within six months of the end of martial law.