Davit Sergeenko ( ka, დავით სერგეენკო; born 25 September 1963) is a Georgian physician and healthcare administrator, serving as Georgia's Minister of Health, Labor, and Social Affairs since 25 October 2012. On 13 June 2018 he was named Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees in the cabinet of Mamuka Bakhtadze.

Early life and medical career

Sergeenko was born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, the capital of then- Soviet Georgia in 1963. He graduated from the Tbilisi State Medical Institute as a

pediatrician Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

in 1987 and the Moscow Institute for Continued Medical Education as an intensive care specialist in 1991. Returning to Georgia, he practiced

neonatology Neonatology is a subspecialty of pediatrics that consists of the medical care of newborn infants, especially the ill or premature newborn. It is a hospital-based specialty and is usually practised in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Th ...

Sukhumi Sukhumi or Sokhumi is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the Capital city, capital and largest city of Abkhazia, a partially recognised state that most countries consider a part of Georgia (country), Georgia. The ...

and

Rustavi Rustavi ( ka, რუსთავი ) is a city in the southeast of Georgia, in the region of Kvemo Kartli and southeast of capital Tbilisi. It has a population of 127,154 (January 2024), making it the third most populous city in Georgia. Its eco ...

from 1987 to 1992. He then served in the Georgian Armed Forces as a physician for an

air force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

regiment from 1992 to 1993 and as a chief of medical service at the State Department of Sports from 1995 to 1997. He worked as an ICU physician at the Jo Ann Medical Center in Tbilisi from 1997 to 2006 and a medical services manager at the MediClub-Georgia clinic from 2002 to 2006. In 2006, he became Director General of a medical center in the provincial town of

Sachkhere Sachkhere ( ka, საჩხერე ) is a town at the northern edge of the Imereti Province in Western Georgia. It is the center of the Sachkhere Municipality. Farming is a major contributor to the economy of Sachkhere. Alva LLC estimates tha ...

, funded by the billionaire tycoon

Bidzina Ivanishvili Bidzina Ivanishvili (; born 18 February 1956), also known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili, is a French-Georgian businessman, politician and billionaire oligarch. He is founder and the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party and has ruled G ...

, a Sachkhere native who had amassed his wealth in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in the 1990s.

Government career

After Ivanishvili's

Georgian Dream Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia (GD), also colloquially known as the Kotsebi, is a Conservatism, conservative and populism, populist List of political parties in Georgia (country), political party in Georgia (country), Georgia, which has ...

coalition won the October 2012 parliamentary election and subsequently formed the new government, Sergeenko was made Minister of Health, Labor, and Social Affairs in the cabinets of Ivanishvili and of his protégé and successor,

Irakli Garibashvili Irakli Garibashvili ( ka, ირაკლი ღარიბაშვილი, also transliterated as Gharibashvili; born 28 June 1982) is a Georgian politician and former business executive who served as the 15th prime minister of Georgia betwe ...

. Sergeenko presided over the establishment of the government-funded

Universal Health Care Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized a ...

system in February 2013. As the Georgian government's support to post-revolutionary

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

amid a brewing confrontation with Russia was reserved, Sergeenko was the only Georgian minister to have visited

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

in August 2014; he then oversaw Georgia's humanitarian aid, worth of about GEL 1 million (US$570,000), to Ukraine in September 2014. Sergeenko was also behind the controversial law adopted in August 2014, tightening the regulation of

prescription drug A prescription drug (also prescription medication, prescription medicine or prescription-only medication) is a pharmaceutical drug that is permitted to be dispensed only to those with a medical prescription. In contrast, over-the-counter drugs c ...

s. He also suggested, in May 2013, that Georgia might consider decriminalization of marijuana as part of the strategy to tackle on illicit drug-trafficking channels.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sergeenko, Davit 1963 births Living people Government ministers of Georgia (country) Healthcare managers from Georgia (country) Physicians from Tbilisi Georgian people of Ukrainian descent Tbilisi State Medical University alumni Recipients of St. George's Order of Victory Georgian Dream politicians Members of the Parliament of Georgia