[MEDICAL TOURISM IN UKRAINE: STATE, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS]

Global processes touch on and affect of various spheres and braGlobal processes touch on and affect of various spheres and branches of human activity, including the health sector. «Open» borders facilitate the migration of people around the world. One of the goals of such migration is to obtain medical services. According to the World Health Organization, by 2022, the health and tourism sectors will jointly become one of the world's significant industries, which also will be facilitated by the global tendency of «aging» of the world's population. In recent years, medical tourism accounts for about 2% of world GDP. Development of the sphere of medical services gives rise to the practical need for the legal consolidation of the institution of medical tourism. Due to the fact that the number of people who want to combine rest and treatment is growing rapidly, this situation leads to the consideration of a fairly new sphere in the healthcare industry as medical tourism. The purpose of the study is to analyse the development of medical tourism in Ukraine, identify its problematic theoretical and practical aspects both in the tourist sphere of Ukraine and in the healthcare sector, as well as to search for scientifically-based ways to improve the regulatory and legal mechanism that regulates the activities of medical tourism in Ukraine. To achieve this goal have been investigated the medico-legal nature of medical tourism in Ukraine, an analysis of its implementation in the field of international medical tourism, the mechanisms of its implementation. In Ukraine, have been created public organizations to develop medical tourism as one of the most promising areas of health care, aimed at interacting with Ukrainian and international public and charitable organizations. At the same time, it should be noted that at the initial stage medical tourism needs both legal regulation and state financial support. It is necessary to highlight the subjects of such activities at the legislative level, paying special attention to medical providers, the mechanism of influence on them by the state, their functional responsibilities, which can be organization and support of the patient during travel, the search for clinics and the conclusion of contracts with them for the provision of medical services, conclusion of contracts for the provision of services for transportation, accommodation, insurance. Attracting investors and government funding will allow the restoration of unique medical resorts, clinics and hospitals in the development of reproductive health, spa and rehabilitation treatment; create more favourable conditions for attracting foreign patients.