Policy

MSEC reform is under threat due to sabotage in one region

ANALYSIS

The reform of medical and social expertise (MSE), which started on January 1, 2025, continues, but its implementation is fraught with difficulties. In response to a request from Komersant ukrainskyi, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine (MoH) explained the details of the reform, as well as the situation with the liquidation of MSECs in the regions.

The Ministry of Health emphasizes that according to the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, medical and social expert commissions ceased to operate as of December 31, 2024. Their functions have been transferred to expert teams for assessing the daily functioning of a person working in cluster and supercluster medical institutions.

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The Ministry of Health responds to the only MSEC in Ukraine that has not been liquidated

It is known that the deputies of the Cherkasy Regional Council have failed for the third time to vote on the liquidation of the regional center of medical and social expertise (MSEC). Only 18 out of 64 deputies showed up for the extraordinary meeting on February 7, making the vote impossible.

The Ministry of Health explains that decisions such as the liquidation of the MSEC are within the competence of local governments. According to the law “On Local Self-Government in Ukraine,” the creation, liquidation, and reorganization of municipal institutions is the exclusive competence of local councils.

This means that we can only hope for the same deputies who refuse to make a decision to liquidate the local MSEC. Why did the Cherkasy Regional Council fail to pass the decision for the third time, and why did only a third of the deputies show up for the meeting? Journalists tried to ask the chairman of the regional council , Anatoliy Pidhornyi, but after the session he locked himself in his office. His press service explained that he was at a meeting. During the day, Pidhornyi did not answer the phone and did not find time to comment.

The situation remains unresolved, and the liquidation of the MSEC in Cherkasy region is again postponed indefinitely.

The head of the Cherkasy regional military administration, Ihor Taburets, emphasized that failure to implement this decision hinders the implementation of the reform and entails financial costs.

“We have already spent 19 million hryvnias of the regional budget in 2024 on the maintenance of the MSEC, and almost a million more in January 2025 alone. This is payment for premises, utilities, and salaries to employees. We cannot form new teams of doctors, because the previous ones are still officially in office,”

– Taburets said.

Cherkasy region remains the only one in Ukraine where the MSEC center has not yet been liquidated, despite the nationwide reform.

One month of reform: what other difficulties?

The first month of the new system’s operation has demonstrated both positive results and challenges. The Ministry of Health reports that expert teams are still being formed.

There is also the issue of organizing the work of the new system, as the reform provides for the transition to international standards for assessing the human condition. The Ministry emphasizes that the transformation process will take some time, and the final completion of the reform depends on the coordinated work of both central and local authorities.

Citizens who have questions about access to information or the reform process can appeal the relevant decisions of the authorities through the administrative court.