Ukraine eHealth: Working Towards Health Sector Reform | A Fireside Chat

Viktoriia Tymoshevska oversees projects on public spending for health and social services, access to medicines and health services for marginalized populations, drug policy, human rights in health care, and health system strengthening. Viktoriia has deep expertise in capacity development of patient groups, coalition building, and developing public campaigns and communication strategies to advance rights of patients and health providers. Her technical skills include program design and evaluation, reproductive health and family planning to access medicines, palliative care and human rights in the public health context. Dr. Tymoshevska has contributed to the development of several epidemiology and program design and monitoring courses at The School of Public Health at the National Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Dr. Tymoshevska received her medical degree from Odessa State Medical University and her Master’s in Public Health with a focus on population and family health from Columbia University, New York. 

Yaroslav Kucher has served as Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitization since June 2020. In 2017, he headed the first Ukrainian delegation of the Japanese government's program "Ship of Young Leaders of the World." Previously he served as Advisor to the Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine (2016-2017) and Advisor to the Head of the Kyiv City State Administration (2014-2015). He has founded and led a number of private commercial structures in Ukraine and the EU in the fields of e-commerce, IT and manufacturing. He has also served as an information systems integrator and private entrepreneur in the field of telecommunications and energy saving. He holds a master’s degree in “Protection of information with limited access and automation of its processing” from the National Aviation University.   

Dmytro Chernysh serves as Head of the Department for eHealth Development at the National Health Service of Ukraine and is an expert on public administration of digital transformation in Ukraine. From 2015-2018, he engaged in the process of public procurement reform and was part of the team that launched Prozzorro – a hybrid electronic open-source government eProcurement system. Since 2018, he has been in charge of eHealth development and implementation in Ukraine – a two-component electronic system that benefits over 31 million patients in Ukraine. 

Mr. Alexander Kvitashvili is the former Minister of Health of Ukraine (2014-2016) and Republic of Georgia (2008-2010) where he led the process of comprehensive health care reforms. In 2010-2013, he was the Rector of Tbilisi State University, the oldest and the largest higher education institution in Georgia. He is a consultant on health care management, health economics and finance to the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, Consulting Group Curatio Sarl, Chemonics International, R4D, CH2M Jacobs, Curatio International Foundation and other private, state and international organizations. He holds a Master of Science degree in Public Administration from Robert F. Wagner School for Public Service of New York University and a Bachelor of Arts in Modern History from Tbilisi State University. In 2012, Mr. Kvitashvili was awarded the Presidential Order of Excellence for his contributions to health care reform in Georgia. He is Doctor Honoris Causa of Ilia State University and University of Georgia.  

Rita Sembajwe is an international health informatician with the Information and Communication Technology Group in RTI’s Research Computing Division. Ms. Sembajwe’s combined experience in public health and information technology in different parts of the world contributes to her strong understanding of the fundamentals of health informatics. She has worked in countries including Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Laos, India, Bangladesh, U.S. Pacific Islands, and the United States. Her current work contributes to health information management system strengthening, chronic and infectious disease surveillance system development and implementation, innovative mobile health technology development, and evaluation, and research in electronic health records (EHRs). She has also worked in the areas of quarantine border health monitoring and reporting of communicable diseases, comprehensive cancer control, hereditary cancer, and emergency management in the academic, nonprofit, federal, global health, and private sectors.