HHS Secretary Discusses Collaboration in Medicine and Public Health with the First Lady of Ukraine

February 19, 2008 – The Honorable Michael O. Leavitt, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, meets with the Honorable Kateryna Yushchenko, First Lady of Ukraine. From left to right: Vira Pavlyuk, Director of the Medical Program Department, Ukraine 3000 Foundation; the Honorable Vasyl Lazoryshynets, M.D., Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine; First Lady Yushchenko; Secretary Leavitt; and the Honorable Oleh Shamshur, Ph.D., Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States. (Photo by Chris Smith, HHS)

February 19, 2008 – The Honorable Michael O. Leavitt, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, welcomes the Honorable Kateryna Yushchenko, First Lady of Ukraine. At right is the Honorable Oleh Shamshur, Ph.D., Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States. (Photo by Chris Smith, HHS)

February 19, 2008 – U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Michael O. Leavitt today welcomed the Honorable Kateryna Yushchenko, First Lady of Ukraine, for talks on the progress of U.S.-Ukrainian collaboration in medicine and public health.  The First Lady brought with her the Honorable Vasyl Lazoryshynets, M.D., Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine; and the Honorable Oleh Shamshur, Ph.D., Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States; as well as officials from her Ukraine 300 Foundation, which is engaged in historic and cultural preservation, social service and medical investments, and development planning throughout the country.  Secretary Leavitt visited Ukraine in July 2005, and a subsequent Memorandum of Cooperation, signed in 2006 between HHS and the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, has resulted in a series of exchange visits and cooperative programs between the two sides, including preparedness for avian and pandemic influenza.

Last revised: February 19, 2008