Information is being spread online that Ukrainian doctors are allegedly en masse demanding a bribe from the mobilized for recording diseases at the Military Medical Commission. This was apparently stated by the head of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, Viktor Liashko.

In reality, Viktor Liashko did not say this, according to experts on the VoxCheck project. The information disseminated online contains a frame from the minister’s interview on the “We are Ukraine” YouTube channel back on June 29, 2023. This interview concerned protection from radiation, the situation in the territories flooded after the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station and the medical system. However, there was no talk about the work of the Ukrainian military medical commissions.

On March 4, 2024, Liashko announced that an inspection of the Ukrainian military medical commissions in the city of Kyiv began. “This decision is due to the increase in the number of complaints we have been receiving recently. The main ones concern basic things that can be quickly corrected if desired. This includes non-compliance with the electronic queue and the lack of basic conditions for comfortable passage of the Ukrainian military medical commissions, and unoptimized routes”, said the minister. He also noted that the corruption component does not go unnoticed, however, he did not give quantitative estimates and did not call corruption “massive”.

Moreover, back on January 10, 2024, Viktor Liashko answered questions from journalists, in particular, regarding corruption during the Ukrainian military medical commissions. There was no mention of any widespread corruption cases.

Viktor Liashko announced a change in the approach to conducting commissions to optimize the procedure and prevent the emergence of corruption. Thus, a separate package has been developed within the framework of the Medical Guarantee Program, which makes it possible to assign a separate health care institution to each Territorial center for recruitment and social support. All visits are recorded in the electronic healthcare system, which should reduce corruption risks when passing a medical commission.

If a suspicion of a violation arises, for example, a medical examination of a person liable for military service is carried out for more than 4 days, then the data is additionally transmitted to the health departments. They work with the chairmen of the Ukrainian military medical commissions for a specific institution. To combat corruption during medical examinations, the Ministry of Health also cooperates with law enforcement agencies.

To summarize, there really is a problem of corruption, but there is no way to assess how widespread it is. The Ministry of Health of Ukraine is focused on organizational issues that can be resolved quickly enough and ensure a clear process for passing a medical examination. Then, according to the minister, each request received by the hotline of the Ministry of Health and the National Health Service on the quality of medical examinations will be examined in more detail. “We have the ability and competence to check what is happening in each commission. Based on the results, we will make management decisions”, the minister emphasized on March 6, 2024, on the air of the United News telethon.

Previously, we refuted information that drugs were allegedly tested on Mariupol residents in the interests of Western companies.