21 January 2008, 15:35
At its Meeting on 25 December 2007, the Fund Governing Board considered the results of partial funding towards the health improvement of insured persons´ children in Health Centres, paid for by the Fund in 2007.
According to the Fund, 127,294 thousand Hryvnias were allocated towards children´ health improvement in 2007, which is 13.1% more than in 2006.
However, only 118,158 thousand Hryvnias were actually spent on this project, 92.8% of the intended amount. This provided health improvement for 340,000 children from families of insured persons. The same number of children were given the opportunity to improve their health in 2006.
To implement the Committee´s decision of 6 June 2007, the Fund Executive Directorate prepared a Draft Procedure for financing health improvement schemes of insured persons´ children in Children´s Health Centres, at the Fund´s expense, and submitted the said Draft for consideration by the Fund Governing Board. However, given the negative outcome of the experiment, the Fund Governing Board rejected the said Procedure.
The Committee Meeting focused on the difficult position with health improvement organizations for insured persons´ children, stemming from unregulated issues with the application of tender procedures and using the Fund´s resources. According to The Ministry of Labour, the prepared Bill, aiming to adjust these issues, has not been approved by The Ministry of Finance and The Ministry of Economy.
Committee Members also noted that the State Programme for Children´s Recreation and Health Improvement up to 2008, adopted by The Cabinet of Ministers, is not funded from The State Budget, its implementation being limited to relevant measures taken by the Executive Authorities. The People´s Deputies, V.H. Hara, I.M. Bodnarchuk, and others, suggested an initiative that this issue should be regulated at a legislative level.
On 27 June 2006, The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed, at the First Reading, the Bill on Children´s Health Improvement and Recreation. This Bill regulates the matters related to children´s health improvement and recreation, and defines the notion of the recreational period in a children´s health improvement centre, its duration according to the requirements set out in The State Health and Hygiene Regulations , together with standards for allocation, organization and operation of such centres.
The Committee took note of the information presented by the Temporary Incapacity for Work Insurance Fund, and The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of Ukraine.
Committee Members resolved to appeal to The Family Affairs, Youth Policy, Sports and Tourism Committee, asking it to speed up the additional elaboration on, and introduction into The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, of the Bill on Children´s Health Improvement and Recreation, adopted at the First Reading.
The Committee will also apply to The Economic Policy Committee with a request to speed up the elaboration on, and introduction to The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Bill on Amendments to the Law of Ukraine, ‘On Public Procurement of Goods, Works and Services´ (appertaining to the Register of Contracts), sponsored by The People´s Deputy, V. Khara.