Let’s take a look at the films, specifically the animated videos produced on behalf of the Health Department of the Kyiv City State Administration.
The topic is serious – medical. It addresses the importance of preventing various dangerous diseases and what parents raising children should pay attention to.
We are discussing this because public funds from the Kyiv treasury have been spent on informational and educational videos. This work was carried out based on the city’s targeted program "Public Health" (2022-2025).
Back in 2021, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko signed a decree approving this program, with a total funding volume of 834 million 13 thousand hryvnias. It was anticipated that in 2024, 214 million 606 thousand 800 hryvnias would be allocated for this initiative, and in 2025 – 231 million 366 thousand 800 hryvnias.
What do we read in the program's passport? The goal is “to participate in the implementation of state policy for the development of the public health system in Kyiv to preserve and strengthen the health of Kyiv residents, increase the duration and quality of life for men and women and their age and social groups; prevent and avert diseases, and encourage a healthy lifestyle.”
Among the operational goals of the program is “ensuring quality and accessible healthcare in Kyiv, promoting a healthy lifestyle.”
Expensive city programs
As we can see, the city authorities are not sparing large budget funds for this cause. Nearly a billion hryvnias will be spent! I would like to know if there was a broad discussion among Kyiv residents regarding the program with the participation of self-organization bodies and public organizations? If it did happen, were any reasonable proposals from residents included in the program? The program was adopted at a Kyiv City Council session by a majority vote, primarily from pro-government deputies, mainly from the political party "UDAR" led by Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Unfortunately, this is a typical situation.
Now, let's recall what Klitschko promised the local community: “Effective implementation of budget programs is impossible without analyzing their feasibility and alignment with community interests, as well as without establishing personal accountability for fund utilization. The budget is the money of Kyiv residents. It is the citizens who will influence the determination of the city's budget priorities.”
Beautiful words. But does the city government objectively and fundamentally analyze the “feasibility and alignment with community interests” of targeted programs?
As noted on the Department's website, representatives from civil society, mass media, Kyiv City Council deputies, and authorized representatives of the customer (responsible executor) were invited to participate in the public discussion. There are reports where everything looks smooth, with accurate figures. However, it would be preferable to hear whether the educational videos are considered very important by the residents, especially given their relatively low view counts.
Let’s remind that certain analytical data is also prepared in the capital by the Municipal Scientific Research Institution “Research Institute of Socio-Economic Development of the City,” led by Serhiy Pavlovskyi.
Pay attention to the survey regarding residents' participation in the “Public Budget” initiative. To the question – “have you personally participated in the ‘Public Budget’ in any capacity over the past two years…” 87.7 percent of respondents answered negatively.
7 Here are the data about residents' awareness regarding the “Public Budget”: 65 percent of respondents had never heard of it.
8 We hope that the Institute will eventually publish sociological data on the effectiveness of the city’s targeted program “Public Health,” especially concerning how many Kyiv residents watched the informational and educational videos on medical topics.
In response to an information request from the editorial office, the Director of the Health Department of the Kyiv City State Administration, Valentina Hinsburg, stated that since 2022, 22 animated videos have been produced at a total cost of 615 thousand 968 hryvnias. The executor of the program’s informational campaigns is the Communal Non-Profit Enterprise “Kyiv City Information and Analytical Center for Medical Statistics” of the Kyiv City State Administration.
Who receives money for educational topics?
Tenders were conducted, and the winners were individual entrepreneur Viktoriya Sikorska and LLC “TV Creative.”
Individual entrepreneur Viktoriya Sikorska produced 11 videos during this period for a total of 313,200 hryvnias. LLC “TV Creative” also created 11 videos, with a total cost of 269,367 hryvnias.
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0 1 For instance, in 2022, for three videos (“Diabetes Prevention,” “Viral Hepatitis Prevention,” “Prevention of Airborne Infections”), Sikorska was paid 99 thousand 200 hryvnias. For the video “Tuberculosis Prevention,” this year, 27 thousand 200 hryvnias were paid.
The videos must be adapted to the formats of social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, as well as for broadcast on local television, on municipal health care platforms, in the metro, and other public transport.
In 2024, for the production of six videos, the company “TV Creative,” whose beneficiary, according to Youcontrol, is Bohdan Myanovskyi, received 139 thousand 568 hryvnias from the budget. The technical requirements for the procurement state that the duration of each video must not exceed 60 seconds, the video quality must be 4K, and there should be voiceover. Each video should feature no more than five characters.
How do Kyiv residents react?
On the YouTube channel of the city government website “Evening Kyiv,” the video about diabetes had 36 views a year ago.
The video “How to Protect Yourself from Viral Hepatitis,” on the same site’s YouTube channel, created in January 2023, has only 87 views.
2 And the video about antibiotics, starting from December 2023 to the present day, has only 21 views on YouTube!
The video “How to Avoid Infectious Diseases in Crowded Places” (created on September 11, 2022), on YouTube “VK,” has only 8 views. What do the medical professionals – the customers of this informational product – suggest residents pay attention to? Mostly, to well-known facts: “Wash your hands before eating,” “Don’t touch your face with your hands,” and so on.
“Take care of your health together with your doctor. This is your contribution to victory!” – they urge in another segment.
In another video about the dangers of drugs, a voiceover says: “Meet. This is adolescence. It sooner or later becomes a part of any family…” It’s interesting how “adolescence” can become “a part of any family”? An adolescent – yes, but not “adolescence”!
3 4 On the page of the Health Department of the Kyiv City State Administration, several videos are posted. However, there is no link indicating that these video materials were shown on local television, on Instagram, or in municipal transport. At least we did not see such links.
This is how educational films on important topics are made with our money.
Bohdan TUR