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During the war, hundreds of thousands of children change their place of residence, leave their family structures, live not with their biological parents, but with relatives or even strangers. Often without birth certificates, without an identification code, without a clearly defined doctor. But the disease does not ask where your registration is. And the system, which is designed for accuracy, begins to fail in such circumstances. Therefore, the state made a decision on the need to update all personal data of children in the medical care system by July 1, 2025, related to the requirements of electronic patient records and ensuring correct access to medical services. Without updating the data, the doctor will not be able to provide full assistance, and the declaration itself will lose its validity.

Verification of children’s personal data in the electronic health care system

In 2025, the Ministry of Health will implement mandatory verification of children’s personal data in the electronic health care system. Before July 1, parents should contact a pediatrician or family doctor to check the validity of the child’s documents, confirm his identification in the registers and update the information in case of changes. After this date, declarations of minor patients who have not passed verification will become invalid, and this may limit the child’s access to medical services. That is, they will not actually have access to guaranteed free medical services. That’s about it reminded Zhytomyr City Council, referring to the utility company “Center for Primary Health Care”.

The reason for such a step is the need to update and verify the patient database, where a lot of inaccuracies have accumulated over the years of the war. There are cases when, on paper, the child is treated at a polyclinic in Kharkiv, although he actually lives in Uzhhorod. There are declarations concluded with a doctor who is no longer in the system. There are children who have changed their surname, place of residence, status or received documents — but none of this has been updated in the electronic system. Because of this, problems arise not only in the organization of medical care, but also in its financing, because doctors are obliged to submit accurate data for calculations with the National Health Service.

How exactly it works and what parents should do

Each family needs to contact the doctor with whom the declaration was made: a family doctor or a pediatrician. It will check that all the fields in your electronic medical record are filled in, that the child’s identity is confirmed, that the address is correct, that the birth certificate or ID card is indicated, and that the relationship is with a registered taxpayer – one of the parents.

For children under the age of 14, verification is carried out based on the birth certificate, it is not necessary to obtain an identification code at this stage. But for teenagers aged 14 to 18, the presence of an RNOKPP (identification code) is a mandatory condition, without which the data in the register cannot be considered reliable. If the child does not yet have this code, it is necessary to contact the tax service and issue a document.

The information is checked through the electronic health care system, which automatically compares the data with the register of civil status acts and the register of natural persons — taxpayers. If the information does not match or is missing, the doctor informs about the need to update the data manually.

What will happen after July 1 to those who have not updated their data

Declarations that do not pass verification will be deactivated. This means that:

• the child will not be able to receive free services within the framework of primary medical care — in particular, preventive examinations, vaccinations, certificates for school, consultations of a pediatrician;
• the doctor who serves such a child will not be able to receive payment from the National Health Service, which will call into question further service;
• in case of hospitalization, emergency calls, vaccinations, traveling abroad or trying to join international aid programs, the lack of an up-to-date declaration will create legal obstacles.

In the conditions of war, parents are often engaged in solving priority issues: evacuation, job search, housing, security. Because of this, the issue of updating the children’s medical data seems secondary. But right now, when the child may find himself in a new city, go to the hospital or need urgent help, his access to the system should be flawlessly designed. Without documents, without a code, without a declaration – medicine does not work. And this is not just a formality, but a barrier that can cost health.

Despite the complexity of the times, families have a few months to do one simple but necessary thing: check their child’s medical records. It takes 15 minutes. But these 15 minutes provide months or years of uninterrupted medical care. And what is important is the child’s right to be cared for by the state, even if his life was divided into “before” and “after” the war.