THE MILLENNIUM OF UKRAINIAN MEDICINE AS A WAY TO MEDICAL SELF-GOVERNMENT: THE KYIV DIMENSION

Abstract

The article considers the history of medicine in Ukraine, which according to archaeological finds is more than a thousand years old. The period before the formation of the ancient Kyjivan state and the baptism of Rusj is mentioned, when there was household medicine (midwives, osteopaths, toothpicks, bloodletters) and priestly medicine (magicians, wizards, healers, herbalists). It is noted that the official church medicine in Kyjiv developed at monasteries since the XI century during the time of Pechersjk monks: St. Ahapit of Pechersjk, Hypatius the Healer, Damian the Healer, Lawrence the Gatherer, Alypius of Pechersjk and others. It is stated that the hospitals of Kyjivan Rusj were first mentioned in the 11th century. The first physician-woman in Rusj-Ukraine was the daughter of the Kyjiv king Mstyslav Volodymyrovych Evpraksia, which in Ukrainian means Dobrodija. After the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Kyjivan Rusj, civilized life was revived, mainly in the western lands of Ukraine. In the 15th and 18th centuries, hospitals-shelters of church fraternities were established in the cities. In the days of the Cossacks (especially B. Khmelnytsjkyj) and the Hetmanate (from I. Mazepa to K. Rozumovsjkyj) hospitals for the treatment of the wounded, sick, disabled and elderly Cossacks were developed at the monasteries. Bohdan Khmelnytsjkyj’s liberation struggle did not lead to Independence, but pushed Rusj-Ukraine into the arms of Moscow’s eastern despotism. Ivan Mazepa’s attempt to liberate Ukraine ended in defeat near Poltava in 1709. In 1737, the positions of city doctors were introduced in the Rossian Empire. The activities of outstanding ukrainian doctors are outlined. It is noted that on April 2, 2005, for the first time in Ukraine, a bill on medical self-government was discussed and published in the Ukrainian Medical News journal. During several years, the draft law of Ukraine «About Medical Self-Government» has been considered many times, improved and finalized by various author groups at various medical and legal����� ����congresses,��������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������Government», which are regularly reflected in resolutions and appeals. This bill was registered several times in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of various convocations, but each time its adoption was delayed in every possible way. The final version of the draft law «About Medical Self-Government» №8250 was registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on April 6, 2018, but the law has not been adopted yet. On September 24, 2020 at Interfax Ukraine at the press conference «Self-government of medical professions from the Verkhovna Rada: liberation from slavery or enslavement?» I. Mazur, L. Matjukha, O. Musij, K. Nadutyj and T. Tatarchuk stressed that they strongly disagree with the wording of the draft law «About self-government of medical professions in Ukraine» #2445-d registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on July 3, 2020. Ukrainian medicine has been going to medical self-government for over a thousand years. Ukrainian doctors must finally be given the same rights as their counterparts in all civilized nations. The Ukrainian Medical Association, as the only general medical organization in Ukraine, has been widely discussing for several years the need to introduce medical self-government in Ukraine. But we still hope that the establishment of real civil society institutions in the national health care system will finally take place and the state parliamentary and ministerial men will become partners of the medical community and will be able to adopt the Law on Medical Self-Government.