Parliament confirmed Viktor Lyashko as the new health minister with 262 votes on the morning of May 20.
Lyashko, who previously served as the deputy health minister and chief sanitary doctor, has been the public face of Ukraine’s COVID-19 pandemic response, often speaking at the ministry’s daily briefings. He has replaced former health minister Maksym Stepanov, who was fired on May 18.
The new minister thanked parliament, saying that he often had to make “unpopular decisions” to save lives in his previous role. He promised to do everything he can to ensure that Ukrainians can get vaccinated, work and travel.
One of Lyashko’s controversial decisions, for example, was to close city parks, supposedly to combat the proliferation of coronavirus last spring. When asked about it later, Lyashko admitted that the closures were less about preventing infection and more about frightening people into taking the pandemic seriously.
Lyashko, 41, has been in medicine for 20 years, having worked at the Kyiv epidemiological service and later, at the Center for Public Health during the tenure of former Health Minister Ulana Suprun.
After the change of government in 2019, Lyashko served as the deputy health minister under Suprun’s replacement, Zoryana Skaletska.
When the pandemic began, Lyashko became Ukraine’s chief sanitary doctor. In this role, he informed the public, helped ensure hospitals’ readiness to cope with COVID-19 and assisted with preparing the vaccination effort.
Lyashko is the fourth health minister who has had to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.
His predecessor, Stepanov, who was appointed close to the beginning of the pandemic, oversaw Ukraine’s response to the disease. He became known for making contradictory statements and not delivering what he promised. He was also criticized for causing delays in the procurement of medicines and other medical supplies.
Under his watch, Ukraine failed the roll-out of its vaccination campaign. Since the start of vaccination in late February, only a million Ukrainians received the first dose of coronavirus vaccine, and only 48,070 are fully vaccinated.
Stepanov, who fought to keep his seat, defended his record, including the failed vaccination campaign. Nevertheless, 292 lawmakers voted for his dismissal.
