Andriy Dotsenko: “People need to be told about charity”
Andriy Dotsenko, chairman of the MANUS DEI ICF, founder of the SKY BUILDING construction company and the Innovation Leadership Foundation, a public figure, philanthropist, spoke about medical reform in Ukraine and charity.
Andrey, you have been in business for many years, why did you decide to devote yourself to charity and reforming the medical sector in Ukraine?
By the nature of my work, I travel a lot around the country and see how people live in the regions. One of the biggest problems that I constantly observe is the state of hospitals: lack of equipment, lack of necessary medicines, even basic first aid equipment. There is no need to even talk about the premises, hospital wards and the repair of the buildings themselves – everything is in a very neglected and sad state. I felt scared and painful to look at all this in silence. And I decided that it was time to take part and help where help is urgently needed.
Together with my friends, we began to engage in charity work and at the same time study, for example, how much funds and what is allocated from the state budget, how is it implemented and what are the results of the medical reform, what is its essence and what awaits Ukrainians?
“A happy, powerful nation does not start from the offices of officials and expectations for a happy future, but from each of us.”
Have you found the answers to these questions?
We spoke to a large number of people, experts in their field, who spoke at the Medical Forum on November 7, and on the basis of their speeches we finally understood that there is no preponderance towards good or bad in reforming the medical industry in the state, but there is definitely an urgent need for an explanatory politics among physicians themselves and, of course, patients.
The Ministry of Health should give clear instructions to hospitals on how to move to a new stage of work, because where we go – to regional hospitals, district ones – even the chief doctors themselves do not know what awaits them, where to go, what to sign. All the processes taking place at each stage of the reform need to be explained to everyone correctly. By the way, no one from the Ministry of Health came to the Forum either, despite the fact that there were no provocative questions, and we did not globally touch the question of financing of the medical industry and public procurement.
I am grateful to the speakers who came and were not afraid to take part in the discussion, among them: People’s Deputies of Ukraine.
Andrey, what exactly do you do?
Equipping medical institutions with new medical equipment, both diagnostic and surgical. In villages, for example, there are outpatient clinics in which there are no hot water and working bathrooms. We also pay attention to the solution of such issues, but this is already the area of responsibility of local authorities, and they are obliged to cover at least such elementary needs on their own.
You know, interacting with different charities, I saw a clear fragmentation in the work. It seems that we are all doing the same thing, looking in one direction, but each one acts in isolation and chaotically . People are attached to a particular hospital or to a particular region, and they do not care that in Kiev the situation with some medical equipment is many times better than in any other region.
Where do you get the funds?
Funding for social projects comes from the Fund, which we created with my friends and business partners. The fund is purely subsidized, we do not collect massive amounts of money. Together we earn in our business and allocate significant sums to charity.
In your opinion, is it necessary to promote charitable deeds?
People must be told about charitable activities as much as possible, showed by example, invited to join some projects, and soon society will begin to understand that only together we will give a chance to a healthy and strong nation. After all, each of us can find ourselves in a variety of situations when help is needed.
I understand that now there is an extremely high level of mistrust towards charitable foundations in Ukraine, because many people think that this is a way to launder money or break into government bodies. I am also often approached with the question of why my team and I started doing charity work and why we need the Foundation.
How do you answer?
In different ways. Firstly, I feel sad, that almost all our businesses in Ukraine live their own lives and are not designed for good deeds to be part of their lives.
In order to join good deeds and together change the future of Ukraine, we have created a charitable foundation “MANUS DEI”, which has united many of us with caring hearts and sincere love for our own country.
Secondly, for me personally, the “MANUS DEI” charitable foundation is a tool that is needed so that, within the framework of our legislation, I can engage in the activities that I do. This is an institution that allows me to transfer medical equipment to the hospitals. I can’t just bring it in my hands and hand it over, because we need contracts, documents – a simple formality, but this is necessary.
The fund began operating in December 2017, and already has a number of completed projects for the provision of medical equipment, reconstruction and repair of hospital premises. Also, now we are developing a direction of targeted assistance to mothers who raise children on their own, and we help children with disabilities.
The main goal of the “MANUS DEI” foundation is to do everything possible so that any adult or child in Ukraine has the opportunity to receive decent medical care on time!
How is the name of the fund translated?
“MANUS DEI” means “the hand of God”. I am a deeply religious person and I believe that God himself directs where our help is most needed, and our choice is never accidental, this is my conviction.
I have a civil position that tells me that you should not stand aside and pretend that everything that happens does not concern you. I believe that everything that happens in the country concerns everyone. We all visit hospitals, there is no person who has not been a patient at least once.
Why, when choosing how exactly you can help, do you consult not with chief doctors, but with deputies of local and regional councils?
We have often encountered such a situation when a doctor talks about current needs that need to be covered in the hospital, but does not know, for example, that funds for the necessary equipment are budgeted for next year. The deputies and the head of the administration know about this, and therefore it is worth talking to them first, and not buying something that will be provided soon. Better to spend money on something else, no less important. Funds should be used as useful and efficient as possible.
What tasks do you set for yourself?
I do not set tasks, but sensibly assess my capabilities. I just want the Foundation and our public organization “Foundation for Innovative Leadership” to become an important link in the development of our country and healthcare in particular.
I am sure that a happy, powerful nation begins not with the offices of officials and expectations for a happy future, but with each of us. Join – and see with your own eyes that good does not need superhuman efforts.
Source – http://grushevskogo5.com/life_style/andrei-dotsenko-liudiam-nuzhno-rasskazyvat-o-blagotvoritelnoi-deiatelnosti/