Seriously ill patients will receive far more medicines in 2017.  Draft Budget-2017 allocates UAH 5,9 billion for procurement of medicines for patients with HIV, TB, viral hepatitis, pediatric and adult oncology, haemophilia and other diseases, which is by UAH 2 billion more than in the previous year.  Corresponding draft law  is registered at the Verkhovna Rada website.

In particular, funding of patients with TB is increased by UAH 323 million, with HIV —  by UAH 484 million, with pediatric and adult oncology —  by UAH 205 and 47 million, respectively,  with adult hemophilia — by UAH 301 million, with phenylketonuria  – by UAH 39 million,  with hepatitis — by  UAH 14 million), with cardiovascular diseases — by UAH 43 million. Moreover, additional funds are allocated for vaccination program (by U AH 71 million) and for treatment of patients with mucopolysaccharidosis (by 218 million UAH), with Gaucher disease (by UAH 34 million), with rheumatoid arthritis (by UAH 77 million), with cystic fibrosis (by UAH 33 million) and with pediatric haemophilia (by UAH 104 million).

At last the budget for 2017 provides funds for procurement of medications for substitution maintenance therapy amounting to UAH 16, 9 million. Moreover, MoH prepared amendments to the budget of 2016 providing funds for procurement of medications for substitution maintenance therapy amounting to UAH 13 million.

“For the first time in the history of our organization patients with hepatitis, oncology, HIV, TB and other diseases do not need to picket demanding additional budget financing for medicines procurement. For the first time we managed in the course of negotiations to persuade the Ministry of Finance to allocate additional UAH 2 billion for medicines, says Olga Stefanyshyna, the Executive Director of the CF “Patients of Ukraine”. “Each figure in the budget for medicines procurement represents life of children and adult patients. We hope that the Verkhovna Rada will support this draft budget and the Cabinet of Ministers will continue considering the needs of seriously ill Ukrainian patients”,  she adds. 

As a reminder, the draft budget for 2017 provided UAH 3,9 billion for the medicines procurement as in the previous year. On September 5 the CF “Patients Ukraine” and the CO “All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS” sent an official appeal to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groisman, the Minister of Finance Oleksandr Danilyuk and the Acting Minister of Health Ulyana Suprun requesting to increase the budget for medicines procurement for seriously ill Ukrainian patients. In response to this appeal the activists of the patient organizations participated in the meeting with the Minister of Finance Oleksandr Danilyuk and the Acting Minister of Health Ulyana Suprun, where the activists were given an assurance that the additional funds for providing seriously ill Ukrainians with medicines will be allocated.

 “This success became possible because we never operate only figures, money, tables or statistics in our work. This victory for me personally and for the network at large means that additional 34 thousand HIV-positive patients will receive treatment next year. We will provide treatment for additional 25 thousand TB patients. Additional 600 patients will receive access to modern medicines against hepatitis C,  says Dmytro Sherembei, the Head of the Coordination Board of the CO “All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS”. – It is the unprecedented achievement in financing the medicines for substitution maintenance therapy. For the first time the state not only finances treatment for existing 8 881 patients on the substation therapy programs but also provides medicines for additional  500 patients”.

It is noteworthy that procurement of medicines and vaccines for the Health Ministry budget in 2017 will be performed by the international organizations. Owing to this reform in 2015 it became possible to save for Ukraine UAH 790 million, as compared to  2014 .

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Contact person: Aliona Romanyuk  093 72 10 800, aliona.r@patients.org.ua, Yulia Chechotkina 066 95 95 567, y.chechotkina@network.org.ua