Report of a mission on tuberculosis control and human rights in the national legislation of Ukraine, 20-24 April 2015

In October 2013, the WHO Regional Office for Europe organized a regional workshop on tuberculosis, ethics and human rights. As part of the follow-up, a mission was conducted to Ukraine on 20–24 April 2015 with the following objectives:

• to assess national primary and secondary legislation governing the involuntary isolation and treatment for TB and the compassionate use of new anti-TB drugs;
• to initiate a policy dialogue with the major national and international stakeholders in the country; and
• to develop specific recommendations for the alignment of existing legislation with the international treaties, conventions and declarations adopted by Ukraine and with WHO’s recommendations on ethics and human rights.

Specific recommendations from the mission included the need to:

• update current legislation and operational guidelines to limit involuntary isolation, and
• make use of the existing legislative framework for importing much needed new anti-TB drugs such as delamanid and bedaquiline.