41 patients’ organizations released an open letter to Julia Tymoshenko calling her not to voice unverified information about international pharmaceutical procurement and not to discredit the reform so important for all patients.

It was the response of the patients’ community to Julia Tymoshenko speech at the Coordination Board, where she announced «false figures and data about one of the most successful reforms, which provided additional medicines to ten thousands of patients», the open letter said.

In this regard it is recalled that according to the data of not only the anti corruption organizations but also by the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine, international organizations save up to 39% of the budget funds. Some medicines are procured at a price 67 times lower than during the MOH procurement before 2015. The saved funds permitted to procure up to 70% of additional medicines for some programs. Over 60% of medicines are procured by the international organizations directly from manufacturers as compared to small percent of manufacturers participating in the MoH tenders.

It is because of the patients’ organization initiative and vivid public actions that the anticorruption law was adopted in 2015 and made it possible to procure medicines through the international organizations. Therefore ‘arrangements’ and corruption schemes were destroyed.

Positive experience of pharmaceutical procurement through the international organizations in Ukraine inspired other countries, in particular, Moldova and Kazakhstan, to adopt the same procurement system.

«We call you, dear Yulia Volodymyrivna, as the leader of the faction, not to voice unverified information and not to mislead voters and people’s deputies. The truth is that the pharmaceutical procurement reform is really supported by the patients’ community and saves our lives», the patients’ organizations call the BYUT leader.

The tenders on the ground show the effectiveness of international procurement as opposed to the PROZZORO system: the regional oncology centers and state institutions pay for the medicines 4 times higher than through the international organizations (evidence from monitoring of procurement of medicines for oncology patients conducted by the Anti Corruption Action Center).

«Public procurement reform is the achievement valued by thousands of saved lives. Discrediting and deprecating it means denying the problems of patients and using peoples’ grief for sensational populist slogans», the message said.