In Ukraine, there will be more people fully fit for military service: will they be conscripted into the army with HIV and tuberculosis

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has expanded the list of diseases with which conscripts can be considered fit for service. The department also regulated military service for those with limited fitness. There was a lot of noise surrounding these changes: they say that people with HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis and nervous disorders will now be mobilized into the army. The Command of the Medical Forces of Ukraine even noted that “this was not without the intervention of the Russian IPSO units.” “Ukrainian Pravda. Life” found out what these changes mean, and whether the list of people with diagnoses who will be mobilized into the army has really been expanded in Ukraine. Has the list of diseases with which they can be mobilized been expanded? According to the order of the Ministry of Defense No. 402, the military medical commission grants a conscript a status depending on his state of health. A person can be recognized as: fit for military service; temporarily unfit for military service, who needs treatment or dynamic observation for a certain period; limitedly fit for service in wartime, but not fit for service in peacetime; unfit for military service with exclusion from military registration. Changes to the Regulations on military medical examination in the Armed Forces (order of the Ministry of Defense No. 402) were made by the order of the Ministry of Defense No. 490 of August 18, 2023 regarding the following diagnoses: clinically cured tuberculosis; viral hepatitis with minor functional impairment; asymptomatic HIV carrier; slowly progressive and non-progressive with minor functional disorders and rare exacerbations of anemia, blood coagulation disorders, purpura, hemorrhagic (those accompanied by increased bleeding) conditions, other diseases of the blood and hematopoietic organs, some disorders involving the immune mechanism; diseases of the endocrine system with minor functional disorders; mild short-term painful manifestations of mental disorders; neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders (mental disorders of neurotic origin) with moderately pronounced, short-term manifestations, with an asthenic condition (a condition in which a person is characterized by excessive fatigue, weakness, mood swings); slowly progressing diseases of the central nervous system with minor functional disorders; episodic and paroxysmal disorders (a group of disorders of the central nervous system of various origins, characterized by a short-term loss of consciousness), except for epilepsy, with minor violations of the functions of organs and systems. As Lyubov Galan, head of the “Princip” human rights center, explained to “UP. Life”, the changes do not concern the appearance of new diseases on the list, and previously people with such statuses could be mobilized into the army. However, some conditions or their gradations, which previously could only lead to unfitness due to these diseases, may not fall under it now, so such people can be mobilized. “Actually, people with these conditions could still be mobilized, but not with all conditions. The concern is about certain gradations of conditions that previously prevented a person from being mobilized. And changes in whether a person is considered fully fit or limited fit. Limited fit means that you still serve, but not in the airborne assault troops. That is, the devil hides in the explanations that have been updated,” says the lawyer. Why such changes were necessary According to Lyubov Galan, probably one of the reasons for such changes is that Ukraine currently needs more military personnel who will perform work on the front, not in the rear or in the headquarters. She does not see a problem in the service of people with such diagnoses, because most people with the above diseases function normally. However, an issue that is not taken into account is the form of service, access to necessary therapy, infection control and other risks for certain categories of conditions. The Command of the Medical Forces assures that the changes in the List of Diseases, which determine the suitability of people for military service, were developed together with the Ministry of Health on the basis of the latest world practice. At the same time, they consulted with lawyers, public organizations and the military. “Global practice has changed, changes are constantly taking place in science regarding the diagnosis of certain diseases, diseases of the heart, lungs, blood vessels, etc. The list of diseases has essentially not changed in terms of their number,” says the representative of the Medical Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant Colonel of the Medical Service Dmytro Miroshnychenko. According to him, these changes introduce specifics for doctors so that everyone interprets the provisions on military medical examination in the same way as possible and to minimize the number of errors during decision-making. Photo: Arimyinform According to him, people with chronic and other diseases served in the Armed Forces in various positions before the changes – in particular, in support units, in training centers. However, according to Miroshnichenko, “there are many examples when such servicemen successfully served in other military units and units.” According to Miroshnychenko, the new changes concern people who have diseases that are in long-term remission (3-5 years), which is confirmed by laboratory research. What changes apply to those with limited fitness for service From now on, when the commission recognizes a conscript as having limited fitness for service, it must indicate what specific military specialty he can engage in. Lyubov Galan calls this change to Order No. 402 positive, as she believes that one of the shortcomings of this document is the lack of a clear distribution of service places for those with limited fitness. “In the 402nd order, it is very vaguely written that those with limited fitness cannot serve in, for example, the DSHV. But they can serve in the Teroboron, whose fighters have the same heavy workloads as in other branches of the military. That is, order 402 does not protect the limited in any way suitable,” Lyubov Galan says. She cites the example of a TRO fighter who received an arm injury during the war, and the functionality of which did not recover after treatment. However, according to the logic of the 402nd order, a fighter can return to the military service to the same position as a gunner. “The VLK is a big sieve through which people have to pass and then move through the troops in order to perform functions according to their state of health. However, since we have the VLK working according to outdated orders, corruption risks are already sewn into it,” says the lawyer . Previously, the Armed Forces explained that conscripts, who were recognized as limited fit for service due to their health, can serve not in combat units, but in support units, in institutions and educational institutions of the Ministry of Defense, in TCC and SP and in other non-combat units subdivisions At the same time, conscripts with limited fitness can perform front-line tasks if their health allows them. Previously, the military medical commission could arbitrarily indicate in the conclusion which types of service and work are contraindicated for such persons. From now on, the VLK must indicate which specialty a person with limited fitness for service can hold. Will the changes affect the corruption component of the VLK’s work? Lyubov Galan notes that although the new regulations removed the individual assessment of the VLK’s state of the military in relation to certain diagnoses, it will not help much to solve the problem of corruption. First, the VLK continue to mobilize people who are unfit for service due to their health. A striking example is the death of a soldier who was drafted into the army with epilepsy at the training ground. Secondly, the lawyer considers Order No. 402 itself, which regulates the work of the VLK and which has currently been amended, to be imperfect and outdated. Will the changes affect the corruption component of the VLK’s work? “This order is a kind of matrix, according to which the state of health of a person is assessed, when he joins the army and when he is injured, and what functions he can perform in the army. There is an International Classification of Diseases in the world, it is constantly developing. Science and medicine does not stand still. But the 402nd order has not developed and is outdated, post-Soviet, we have a lot of subjective things,” says Lyubov Galan. According to the lawyer, the criteria by which the VLC currently assesses the state of a person’s health do not take many factors into account. For example, the order does not specify which physical conditions of a serviceman enable him to occupy a particular position. Read also: The Ministry of Health told what affects the timing of passing the VLC



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