Verkhovna Rada approves the law on overcoming tuberculosis in Ukraine

The Verkhovna Rada has approved the law on overcoming tuberculosis in Ukraine. Draft law No. 9147 was voted in favor by 241 MPs, with none voting against, but 12 MPs (including 11 representatives of the European Solidarity party) abstained.

The law proposes a change in the conceptual approach to the fight against tuberculosis, replacing the policy of counteracting the disease with a policy of overcoming it. The law on TB control will become invalid only after the new law comes into force, which will happen six months after its official publication.

The new law will update the terminology and clarify the powers of the Ministry of Health to develop and approve bylaws to combat the disease.

The law defines regional TB centers as the only municipal institutions in each region that provide TB diagnosis and treatment services under the medical guarantee program.

The law also provides for a mechanism to provide medicines for the preventive treatment of tuberculosis (latent tuberculosis infection). These medicines will be procured centrally and distributed among providers (primary healthcare facilities and regional centers) as part of the packages of medical services provided by the National Health Service.

The adopted law regulates active and passive TB detection with an emphasis on the obligation of primary healthcare providers to continuously identify patients at risk and conduct annual screening.

Tuberculosis diagnosis will be provided through a three-tiered network of laboratories operating in health care facilities. The quality of lower-level laboratories will be controlled by a central reference laboratory.

The law provides for free preventive vaccinations against tuberculosis, as well as ensuring conditions for the education of children with tuberculosis in healthcare facilities and other educational institutions.

In particular, it prohibits employment for employees of certain professions, industries and organizations with a high risk of contracting tuberculosis without a mandatory preventive medical examination for the disease.

If such people are diagnosed with active bacterial shedding, they are suspended from work until the bacterial shedding stops and they receive medical permission to continue working.

The law also provides for the compulsory hospitalization of persons with contagious tuberculosis on the basis of a court decision at the initiative of a regional phthisiopulmonary center within 24 hours of detecting a violation of the anti-epidemic regime. Such hospitalization will be for a period of up to three months with the possibility of extension.

The Ministry of Health states that Ukrainians can currently receive free medical care in any specialized institution in case of tuberculosis. Tuberculosis screening is also available at the primary health care level.

The Ministry of Health emphasizes that since the beginning of the war, a system of early detection of tuberculosis has been established at the regional level, in particular among internally displaced persons. For this purpose, 23 regional teams were created to detect and combat tuberculosis.

Since the beginning of the war, 395,000 Ukrainians who were forced to leave their homes and belonged to the risk group or had symptoms of the disease have been screened for tuberculosis.

"The system of early diagnosis and detection of tuberculosis remains a priority of the state health policy. The Verkhovna Rada supported the law on combating tuberculosis, which takes into account the legal aspects of Ukraine's international obligations in the field of European integration and key recommendations of the World Health Organization," the Ministry of Health said.

According to Deputy Minister, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Ihor Kuzin, at the regional level, it was possible to strengthen cooperation between healthcare institutions and cope with the detection of new cases of tuberculosis over the past year, ensuring timely treatment and continuation of therapy for patients who were forced to move to other regions due to the war. The work in this area will be continued and strengthened in the future.