ECONOMIC AND LEGAL ASPECTS OF IMPROVING MEDICAL-GENETIC ASSISTANCE IN UKRAINE

Abstract

Abstract. The purpose of the article is to study the current legislation in the field of providing medicalgenetic care in Ukraine and highlight the possibilities of its improvement in view of the development of the latest genomic and genetic biotechnologies, as well as ensuring the availability of medical-genetic care for the population. To achieve the set goal, general scientific, interdisciplinary, and special legal methods were used in the scientific work, including dialectical and formal legal methods, as well as the method of analysis and modelling. The article examines the basics of legal regulation of medical and genetic assistance. The economic and legal principles of ensuring prenatal and neonatal diagnosis of hereditary diseases caused by genomic mutations are considered. The need to improve medical and genetic care through the introduction of new treatment methods, in particular the editing of the genome of human somatic cells and the financial support of fundamental research in the field of genome editing of germline cells, was noted. To ensure the availability of medical and genetic care to the population, the possibility of integrating medical and genetic counselling into the system of primary care and providing this medical care by general practitioners, family doctors and paediatricians is being considered. Attention is also drawn to the need to entrust the medical and genetic service, represented by specialized institutes of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, with the duty to carry out an examination of mRNA vaccines intended for immunization of the population of Ukraine. In this regard, recent scientific studies are cited that indicate the potential for mRNA vaccines to be incorporated into the DNA of vaccine recipients and passed on to subsequent generations, which can lead to changes in the human genome. On the basis of the conducted research, the author came to the conclusion that the development of biomedical technologies in the field of genetic engineering against the background of the deterioration of genetic population processes in Ukraine requires an appropriate response from the state. Despite the positive developments in the economic and legal provision of early prenatal and neonatal diagnosis of genetic diseases, its use does not affect the reduction of the level of diseases caused by mutations in genes. In this regard, it is necessary to create the possibility of using the latest technologies for editing the human genome, which will allow not only to detect, but also to treat genetic diseases. To ensure the availability of medical and genetic counselling for a wide range of patients, it is necessary to integrate it into the system of primary medical care. Also, in connection with the emergence of vaccines created on the mRNA platform, it is necessary to place an obligation on the medical and genetic service to conduct a preliminary examination of the possibility of clinical use of DNA-based vaccines to prevent interference with the human genome and genomic mutations.