# Health

From 1 July, there are plans to expand the ‘Affordable Medicines’ state programme. A significant number of medicines for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases will be added to the programme, which patients will be able to obtain free of charge or with a partial co-payment via an electronic prescription.

The Ukrainian Red Cross has signed a trilateral agreement with its Finnish counterparts and the International Committee of the Red Cross to assist citizens who have become disabled as a result of the hostilities.

A personalised mRNA vaccine against pancreatic cancer has shown promising results in long-term follow-up. In some patients who responded to treatment, the disease did not return even four to six years after the end of therapy.

In the UK, Parliament has passed a law banning the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 1 January 2009. If the bill receives royal assent, the country will become one of the first in the world to actively work towards creating a ‘smoke-free generation’.

The Malaysian company Karex Bhd, the world’s largest condom manufacturer, plans to raise its prices by 30% if the war in the Middle East continues.

The Public Health Centre of the Ministry of Health has recorded the first case of a new strain of coronavirus known as ‘Cicada’. According to the WHO, there are currently no indications that the virus could trigger a widespread outbreak.

A baby was born on the Ivano-Frankivsk–Cherkasy train on the morning of 16 April. Due to the birth, the train had to make an unscheduled stop in Fastiv, where paramedics were waiting on the platform.

13 new dishes from 8 countries around the world will be available at all open McDonald’s restaurants in Ukraine from 15 April to 24 June 2026, or until stocks last.

“They won’t admit you to hospital unless you’re in intensive care!” — panic-stricken messages like this have recently flooded Ukrainian social media. And although this is somewhat exaggerated, there’s no smoke without fire. The Ministry of Health has indeed put forward a draft Standard for public consultation that could radically change the rules governing how Ukrainians are admitted to hospital beds. Why is the medical community sounding the alarm, what does the National Health Service’s financial monitoring have to do with it, and what are the implications for patients? Let’s take a closer look.

Yesterday, 11 April, a very special patient left the Centre for Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery. Six-year-old Mykolka Zherebov, whose battle for life has lasted six years, has been officially discharged home following a successful heart transplant. This miracle was made possible thanks to the skill of the medical staff and the self-sacrifice of the family from the Odesa region

The Ministry of Health has put forward a draft order on the standard ‘Recommended criteria for the hospitalisation of patients for inpatient care’ for public consultation. The ministry states that the document is intended to introduce a uniform approach to hospitalisation, but some members of the medical community are already warning that, in its current form, it could restrict patients’ access to timely inpatient treatment.

A morning cup of coffee isn’t just a habit, but a real chance at a long life. However, how we drink it throughout the day can either save our heart or leave it unprotected