Immediately following President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address regarding healthcare reform, and the first reports that the reform at the secondary level is effectively being halted, numerous questions arose among medical experts and the patient community. 

We are all deeply concerned about this news. 

We have all worked so hard so that this reform and the changes we have waited over 20 years for could finally begin! 

That’s why, together — patient organizations, experts, and active citizens — we have gathered questions to address to the President of Ukraine. 

These questions vary, and are subjective, but they all arose because there’s a real fear that the healthcare reform is being stopped. 

The part of society that was involved in developing and implementing the reform, or that simply supports it, is waiting for answers. 

These answers will help everyone — the President, patients, and doctors. 

I am listing these questions as they are, so that everyone can understand that right now there are more questions than answers. 

Millions of Ukrainians care deeply about this reform, and before implementing any changes, we — the patients, and all who believe in the reform — want answers to these questions. 

1. If hospital funding is being returned to 2019 levels, why will psychiatry receive 2 billion UAH again, while strokes and heart attacks receive less? 
2. Why should we, the taxpayers and patients, pay for walls and beds instead of services, just because you’re trying to please everyone? 
3. Why didn’t you allocate more funds for healthcare reform six months ago, and are only saying now that it needs to be done? 
4. Do you have a family doctor? 
5. Why is healthcare reform bad, but the work of the Security Service, the Prosecutor’s Office, the State Bureau of Investigations, and the Presidential Office not? 
6. If you were diagnosed with tuberculosis, would you agree to be treated in the inpatient facilities you’re so eager to preserve? Have you ever been to these facilities? 
7. Why do you remain silent when the Ministry of Health purchases protective suits at twice the cost, but respond immediately when a story airs on Medvedchuk’s TV channel? 
8. Have you watched the program “Schemes: Corruption in Detail”? Why do you think figures involved in corruption during the Yanukovych era are now frequent visitors at the Ministry of Health? 
9. Why does the chief doctor of a tuberculosis hospital in Zakarpattia earn a salary of 75,000 UAH per month in 2019, and why do you defend him instead of doctors earning 4,000 UAH? 
10. Why do you think Ukraine leads the world in multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis, and how are the inpatient facilities you want to preserve connected to this? 
11. What will you do when there’s no money left to raise doctors’ salaries after cancelling the second stage of healthcare reform? 
12. Are you satisfied with the work of the current Minister of Health? 
13. Why do you rely on people associated with corruption for your expert group on healthcare reform? 
14. Why has the procurement of medicines been blocked since the beginning of the year? 
15. Why do some people believe that Avakov runs all the processes in the country? 
16. Why do hospitals sell medicines to patients that they received from the state? 
17. Could negative media coverage, due to some hospitals receiving less funding, be a legitimate reason for the Head of State to roll back reforms? 
18. Why do you listen to chief doctors instead of patients? 
19. Why do hospitals without an anesthesiologist on staff claim funding from the National Health Service as capable of performing surgical operations? How can surgery be performed without anesthesia? 
20. Why have chief doctors turned hospitals into their private businesses, collecting money both from patients and from the state, i.e., from taxpayers? 
21. During the second stage of healthcare reform, private clinics counted on state funds and have already started signing contracts with the National Health Service. What will happen to them, since they’ve already invested in the necessary technical infrastructure for quality patient care? 
22. How can the poorest country in Europe have a healthcare system where everyone is satisfied — can you share the secret? 
23. Why do I have to pay a 3,000 UAH “voluntary donation” to be admitted to Shalimov Hospital? 
24. Why is healthcare reform being cancelled by those who don’t use public hospitals themselves? 
25. Why are there 100 million patient cards in medical institutions for a country with only 30 million people? Why are we treating “dead souls”? 
26. You say that hospitals shouldn’t be closed. Fine. But how many hospitals do we actually need, and why? Do you have the calculations? 
27. Do you understand that reforms are never painless? If so, what are you hoping for? 
28. Are you a communist? 
29. Do you feel any shame over wasted time? 
30. Do you think quarantine will help you avoid protests against the rollback of reforms outside your office? 
31. Tell us, are childbirth services still free? 
32. A large number of hospitals that were preparing for the second stage of reform will lose funding and will have to lay off medical staff. What can you say to them? 
33. Why should hospitals that prepared for the second stage of the reform and benefited financially now lose their legitimately earned funds? Equalizing everyone will only drive them back to the old funding system. 
34. Why have we had three Ministers of Health in just seven months? Why aren’t they chosen based on professionalism and competence? 
35. Who selects the Ministers of Health, and based on what criteria? Please name these people and explain why they have the competence to make such decisions. 
36. Who evaluated the healthcare reform along with the new Ministry of Health leadership? Please list all these individuals and explain why they should be deciding the fate of the entire country. 
37. Why is the Ministry of Health once again handling procurement, given the additional corruption risks this creates? 
38. Why are huge inpatient facilities maintained, with staff and buildings, where only five patients are treated at a time? 
39. When will the issue of medical cannabis be resolved—for scientific research, patient use, cultivation, and the manufacture of medicinal products? 
40. Why did you not respond to the political persecution of the head of the State Enterprise “Medical Procurement of Ukraine,” which was started by former Minister Illia Yemets and continued by the team of the new Minister Maksym Stepanov? 
41. If one of your loved ones suffers a stroke, would you send them to a state hospital that doesn’t even have a CT scanner? 
42. If not, why do you want to send other Ukrainians there? 
43. What will you say to international partners who have invested millions of dollars in supporting the sustainability of healthcare reform and the path toward change? 
44. International partners and donors have rated Ukraine’s primary healthcare reform as one of the most successful! Today, you’re listening to dubious experts from the Yanukovych era and his circles, disregarding the support of international partners and Ukraine’s image as a country capable of effective reforms. Whose side are you on, Mr. President? 
45. Why, during your time in office, have you never once met with patient organizations? 
46. Is it true that the next step will be to cancel the Prozorro system for state procurement? 
47. Do you consider yourself a populist? 
48. Are you capable of admitting mistakes? 
49. Do you have the courage to answer these questions? 

We have also prepared our position from the patient community, appealing to the President to meet with patient organizations and hear our arguments. 

Dmytro Sherembey, Head of the NGO “100% LIFE,” exclusively for UP. Life