According to the regional statistics department, which were recently made public - Lutsk ranks fifth in the rating of the state of health of the population, accessibility and quality of medical care and preventive work among districts and cities of Volyn region for 2003. This was reported by the head of the health care department of the Lutsk city executive committee, Fedir Koshel, on Tuesday at an operational meeting of the health care department of the Lutsk city executive committee. According to the rating assessment, the first place was taken by Ratniv district, the second by Novovolynsk, the third and fourth by Stara Vyzhivka and Kovel districts. However, Lutsk medics do not consider the rating objective and raise legitimate questions - why, when treatment is better in Ratniv or Stara Vyzhivka districts, do residents of these districts so often turn to the Lutsk city hospital? And even respected officials of various levels for some reason do not seek to undergo a course of treatment or surgical interventions in district medical institutions... The reason is simple - ratings are one thing, but everyone wants to be treated effectively. Medical services at the city clinical hospital are provided at a high level, more complex examinations and surgical interventions are performed, the fleet of medical equipment has been substantially renewed recently, and reconstruction continues. At the meeting, issues were considered regarding the extension of quarantine in schools, the relocation of the tuberculosis dispensary outside the city, carrying out repair work in polyclinics, commissioning the food unit of the maternity hospital by February 15, and others. The head of the health care department drew the medics' attention to the need to conduct medical examinations of the population during 2004. Based on the results, statistical reports must be compiled. At the meeting it was also reported that in Lutsk, per 100,000 population, there are 22.17 patients with destructive tuberculosis (a complex form), while in the region their number is 13.7. A problem is the untimely detection of the disease: citizens do not show activity in preventing the disease. In Lutsk over the past year, not a single woman died during childbirth, while in the region per 100,000 live births this indicator is 16.83. The number of births in the city was 2,783. High indicators were achieved in HIV testing of pregnant women - 98.90%.