Iryna enables new health programme for women despite wartime
Iryna Kolkovska, a local politician from Lutsk, Ukraine, worked on an ICLD-supported project to increase women’s access to healthcare and vaccinations. Despite the war initially upending her plans, she has kept driving the change process through difficult circumstances and recently reached the end goal of getting a vaccination program approved and financed.
“This is a great success!. The women’s health programme was developed and adopted by Lutsk City Council, along with the funds for its implementation in the amount of UAH 5 million, I used a lot of lobbying tools and succeeded in the goals with my project via ICLD” says Iryna.
Iryna Kolkovska from Lutsk, Ukraine, participated in the eighth round of ICLD’s program “Women’s Political Leadership” in 2022, which began just weeks before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Within the program, Iryna planned a project based on the need to address lacking health care access for women in girls in Lutsk. Her plan was to mobilize preventive efforts against cervical cancer by gathering support among professionals and political decisionmakers to launch a program to expand vaccinations for the HPV-virus to girls. Days before the invasion, Iryna had held meetings with doctors, healthcare administrators, and politicians to anchor her proposed change project.
The invasion upended everyday life in Lutsk and shifted the focus of society and the city council to wartime planning. The project was initially put on hold by the city. However, despite the invasion, Iryna kept her engagement in the ICLD program and pushed to adopt a plan for the health reform, even if it was not possible for the council to prioritize financial resources at that moment. After the ICLD-program concluded at the end of 2022, Iryna continued to work on lobbying and communication efforts to bring the vaccination programto fruition.
In May 2023, Lutsk City Council finally adopted a new health program aimed at women with cervical cancer, including an HPV vaccination program, and it was funded with five million Ukrainian hryvnias. The funding enables vaccines to be purchased and for an information campaign towards women and girls on the importance of vaccinations to prevent cervical cancer.
“Thanks to the extensive information campaign, information about the program and the possibility of preventing such a disease in women spread throughout the Volyn region. At the same time, widespread public awareness of the possibility of preventing cervical cancer also stimulated many parents in the region to vaccinate their daughters at their own expense,” Iryna explains.
This success demonstrates how important reforms and programs can be achieved in the most difficult circumstances by keeping commitment and passion from key change agents in the local government, such as Iryna. It also shows how results from ICLD-programs can sometimes come to full fruition even a year beyond the program’s formal conclusion. Iryna is still passionate about expanding the program and spreading the initiative further.
We have already started to share the experience regarding the approval of this program with other local communities in the region, which are also interested in allocating funds from their own budgets for the purchase of the vaccine, says Iryna.