Ukraine drafts law to regulate AI in medicine as most medical workers already use it

Ukraine's Ministry of Health is drafting legislation to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in medicine, Health Minister Viktor Liashko said on November 13, Kyiv Post reports. The ministry will soon present the draft for public discussion, he said, without giving a date.

Under the ministry's proposal, the bill would set rules for developing and using medical AI systems, classify them by risk level and require both providers and users to meet standards of safety, transparency and accountability. Liashko said the lack of comprehensive rules leaves developers and medical institutions uncertain and makes it harder to scale promising tools. "Patients' medical data must be protected, and AI must be used under proper supervision by medical professionals," he said.

A ministry survey published in late August found that 80.5% of the more than 7,000 doctors, nurses, pharmacists and heads of medical institutions who took part already use AI tools, 21.6% regularly and 58.9% occasionally. Nearly two-thirds supported AI in health care, and respondents named possible system errors as the biggest risk. Among more than 300 patients surveyed, 67.5% supported its use, with most wanting AI to explain diagnoses and test results in plain language rather than replace a doctor.