Sanitary control and epidemiological supervision according to European standards or destruction of the existing system: about reservations to the deputy initiative

A draft law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the Implementation of State Supervision (Control) over Compliance with the Requirements of Sanitary Legislation in the Spheres of Economic Activity that May Pose a Risk to Public Health and Sanitary and Epidemiological Well-being" (No. 13205) was recently registered in the Verkhovna Rada. According to UNN, it caused considerable concern on the part of the expert community involved in the field of sanitary control and epidemiological surveillance. UNN decided to investigate this issue.

The draft law was registered by a number of people's deputies from various committees of the Verkhovna Rada, most of whom belong to the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Public Health, Medical Care and Medical Insurance.

The document has not yet passed the first reading, but there is already a conclusion of the Main Scientific and Expert Department of the Verkhovna Rada, as well as the relevant committee on public health and the committee on environmental policy. The relevant committee did not find any comments on the project, but the scientific and expert department did.

The first thing that the Main Scientific and Expert Department drew attention to was the proposal to deprive medical and pharmaceutical workers of the right to insurance at the expense of the state budget in case of infectious diseases. Currently, medical and other employees of state and municipal healthcare institutions and state scientific institutions who perform their professional duties in conditions of increased risk of infection with infectious agents (providing medical care to patients with infectious diseases, working with live pathogens and in foci of infectious diseases, carrying out disinfection measures, etc.) have the right to such insurance.

Also, in the proposed wording, the provision according to which employees of regional phthisiopulmonological centers who provide medical care to people with tuberculosis, work with live tuberculosis pathogens or materials containing them, care for people with tuberculosis, and/or clean the premises in which such 3 people are located, are entitled to receive for each year of work after reaching three years of service one additional calendar day to the annual paid leave, but not more than 15 calendar days. This norm in the draft law is proposed to be replaced by a provision according to which "the duration of annual additional leaves, the conditions and procedure for their provision are established by regulatory legal acts of Ukraine, as well as by labor and/or collective agreement". The Main Scientific and Expert Department notes that the receipt of additional leave by employees will depend on the administration of the institution.

It is interesting that draft law No. 13205 also amends the law "On Measures to Counteract Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Precursors and Abuse Thereof". The project proposes to exclude Article 12 "Identification of persons who illegally use narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances" from the text of the Law, which defines: the grounds and peculiarities of the response of competent authorities (in particular, the National Police) to information on persons who allegedly illegally use narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances or are under the influence of narcotic intoxication; the grounds for referring such a person to a medical examination; the exclusive competence of doctors and medical advisory commissions in the field of conducting medical examinations (examinations) for the state of narcotic intoxication and making a diagnosis of "drug addiction"; general provisions on the procedure for identifying and registering persons who illegally use narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances. The Scientific and Expert Department draws attention to the fact that the exclusion of this norm has no justification and, in general, contradicts the purpose of the draft law, namely, the settlement of problematic issues related to the implementation of state supervision (control) over compliance with the requirements of sanitary legislation in the spheres of economic activity that may pose a risk to public health and sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the population. In addition, experts note that the exclusion of one norm of the law entails a loss of logic between other norms, which, in particular, relate to measures to combat illegal drug use.

"After all, it is difficult to imagine the application of any measures to persons who have not been identified," the experts write directly in their conclusion.

The project also proposes to allow the use of low-hazard pesticides, while there is no such term in Ukrainian legislation regulating the use of pesticides.

The conclusion contains some other remarks. But we drew attention to another novelty of the draft law, which raised doubts. We are talking about the exclusion of some powers from the functions of the main expert institution in the field of public health, which is currently the "Center for Public Health of the Ministry of Health" of some functions. At the same time, it is not indicated to whom exactly they will be transferred. Among other things, in particular, we are talking about the function of preserving the collection of strains of infectious agents; carrying out indication, identification and quantification of factors of the human environment, as well as performing the functions of reference laboratories (these are laboratories that, among other things, conduct diagnostic studies of newly detected or rare pathogens). Not finding an answer to the question of who will be assigned the above-mentioned functions, we tried to contact the People's Deputies-initiators of the draft law. But we have not yet received an answer.

The only thing we were able to get was an assurance that the draft law will be finalized between the first and second readings.