Solutions from Ukraine: Mykolaiv region unveils first mobile pharmacy

The Mykolaiv region has just launched its first mobile pharmacy, which will provide services to five local communities.

The Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration reported that on Facebook.

What is the problem?

According to the Ministry of Health, about 5,700 pharmacies and pharmacy points are currently operating in villages and urban-type settlements. Instead, more than 20,000 villages in the country do not have pharmacies.

Also, in the front-line territories, where the medical and pharmacy infrastructure has been significantly destroyed, the shortage of medicines is currently acutely felt.

The launch of mobile pharmacies makes it possible to solve the issue of the availability of medicines in rural areas and to allow patients to buy medication without the need to travel to larger cities.

What is the solution?

The first mobile pharmacy in Ukraine was launched in the Kharkiv region.

In February, Minister of Health Viktor Liashko announced that the Ministry of Health intends to expand the project of mobile pharmacy points to all regions.

Therefore, as mentioned in the military administration, the first mobile pharmacy point of the Mykolaiv Regional Branch of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, "Hospital of the Ukrainian Red Cross," was opened on March 1 in the Mykolaiv region.

"Implementation of mobile pharmacy points for rural areas is an important initiative of the government," the deputy head of regional military administration, Yuriy Hranaturov, noted.

How does it work?

It is reported that at the first stage, the work of the mobile pharmacy point is focused on five villages of the region that do not have stationary pharmacies. In particular, two of them survived the occupation in 2022.

^{Photo: Facebook / Mykolaiv Regional State Administration}

Thanks to the mobile pharmacy, villagers will now have access to medicines under the "Affordable Medicines" program.

^{Photo: Facebook / Mykolaiv Regional State Administration}

The initiated social project will have further expansion.

According to Hranaturov, the "Pharmatsia" communal-owned regional enterprise involves paramedics and midwives from the region to distribute medicine in rural areas. It is expected that JSC "Ukrposhta" [Ukraine's national post – ed.] will also be involved in delivering medication to these areas in the future.

For reference:

It's worth mentioning that a pilot program has been initiated in the Donetsk region and certain border areas of the Sumy region, thanks to which, from now on, the residents of the front-line territories will be able to purchase medicines through the contact center of "Ukrposhta."

In addition, City Hospital No. 4, which the Russians twice damaged in the first year of the full-scale invasion, was restored in the Mykolaiv region.