Patient and anticorruption organizations call on\u00a0pharm companies not to\u00a0sell medical products to\u00a0Ukraine at\u00a0the price of\u00a0gold and decrease the prices instead to\u00a0the level of\u00a0the year 2013. After envelops were opened up\u00a0during tender procedures it\u00a0appeared that the prices were substantially raised by\u00a0pharm companies without any grounds. For example, medical products for children\u2019s\u2019 oncology were raided by\u00a040%-60%, and in\u00a0some cases, for example, pediatric hemodialysis, the prices were raised by\u00a0up\u00a0to\u00a0300%.<\/p>\n
For this very reason civil activists brought to\u00a0the press conference the pills painted into gold in\u00a0order to\u00a0demonstrate that pharm companies are trying to\u00a0sell the pills to\u00a0the country at\u00a0the price of\u00a0gold. These pills will also be\u00a0sent to\u00a0pharm companies in\u00a0the west in\u00a0order to\u00a0congratulate them as\u00a0price winners in\u00a0the nomination of\u00a0Highest Prices.<\/p>\n
\u00abInstead of\u00a0making step toward Ukraine and sell medical products at\u00a0so\u00a0called \u201esocial\u201c price\u00bb pharm companies made a\u00a0decision to\u00a0make money on\u00a0our misfortune and war and raised their prices on\u00a0certain medical products by\u00a0up\u00a0to\u00a0300%, selling the pills at\u00a0the price of\u00a0gold<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 said Dmytro Sherembey, the head of\u00a0CF\u00a0\u00abPatients of\u00a0Ukraine\u00bb<\/strong>. \u2014\u00a0\u00abIt\u00a0is\u00a0unbelievable that thousands of\u00a0Ukrainian patients may die because of\u00a0the greed of\u00a0businessmen running pharm companies. This is\u00a0why we\u00a0fight for the decrease in\u00a0prices for medical products in\u00a0Ukraine and hope that they will at\u00a0least be\u00a0average for the region\u00bb.<\/em><\/p>\n Legal consultants also support the words of\u00a0activists, stating that the prices are too high and raised up\u00a0without any grounds. \u00abWe\u00a0have compared prices for the same medical products against the prices in\u00a0neighboring countries such as\u00a0Moldova, Bulgaria, Check republic. The very same medical products cost ten times less<\/em>,\u00a0\u2014 says Olena Scherban, legal consultant from \u201eAnticorruption Center\u201c<\/strong>. \u2014\u00a0Such a\u00a0drastic increase in\u00a0prices gives\u00a0us grounds to\u00a0file claim with Antimonopoly committee about possible conspiracy of\u00a0pharm companies and imitation of\u00a0competition for the sake of\u00a0unbelievable monetary gain\u00bb<\/em>,\u00a0\u2014 she added.<\/p>\n Every year MOM of\u00a0Ukraine procures medical products necessary for treatment of\u00a0deadly diseases based on\u00a018\u00a0treatment programs that exist within the country. Among these are oncology, hepatitis, hemophilia, tuberculosis, HIV\/AIDS, etc. However, the initial budget deficit, medical payments and constant growth of\u00a0dollar and euro leave Ukrainian patients no\u00a0chance for life.<\/p>\n We\u00a0want to\u00a0remind that in\u00a0April CF\u00a0\u00abPatients of\u00a0Ukraine\u00bb initiated the round table<\/a>, calling on\u00a0pharm companies, taking into account situation in\u00a0the country, to\u00a0make a\u00a0step forward toward Ukraine and the patients and not to\u00a0raise the prices for their products.<\/p>\n Nevertheless most companies have not just raised the prices to\u00a0the inflation level. They have actually doubled or\u00a0even tripled their prices. Most companies explained this by\u00a0the absence of\u00a0necessary procedures, inflation, etc. However, the experience of\u00a0the largest international companies such as\u00a0Abbvie or\u00a0Glaxo Smith Klein demonstrated that decrease in\u00a0prices is\u00a0possible. And these very companies came to\u00a0tenders with the prices of\u00a0previous year.<\/p>\n To\u00a0bring up\u00a0attention of\u00a0international community toward such an\u00a0outrageous situation, Ukrainian activists sent open letters to\u00a0all central offices of\u00a0pharm companies calling on\u00a0them to\u00a0exert influence on\u00a0their Ukrainian braches and ask them to\u00a0revise their prices. They also recorded video address<\/a> of\u00a0parents whose children suffer from oncological conditions, asking pharm companies not to\u00a0kill their children with their monetary policy. The copies of\u00a0these letters were also sent to\u00a0international organizations that protect rights of\u00a0patients, UN, WHO, etc.<\/p>\n To\u00a0make situation even more clear, the activists developed their rating of\u00a0the 8\u00a0greediest pharm companies. This rating includes such companies as\u00a0MSD, Astellas, Novartis, Medac, Baxter, Lumier-Pharma, Janssen as\u00a0well as\u00a0Ukrainian \u00abDarnitsya\u00bb.<\/p>\n \u00abThe procurement of\u00a0medical products for HIV-positive Ukrainians demonstrated that decrease in\u00a0prices for medical products is\u00a0possible.<\/em> \u2014\u00a0says Volodymyr Zhovtyak, the head of\u00a0coordination committee of\u00a0CF\u00a0\u201eAll Ukrainian Network of\u00a0People Living with HIV\/AIDS\u201c.\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014\u00a0however, it\u00a0is\u00a0only possible to\u00a0do\u00a0in\u00a0the area where there is\u00a0a\u00a0strong patient community which realizes that they actually control the situation. The very same companies, however, that offer medical products for other diseases, including children\u2019s diseases, came to\u00a0tenders with drastically increased prices. We\u00a0cannot stand aside this outrageous situation and will fight for the price decrease in\u00a0medical products for all patients of\u00a0Ukraine\u00bb<\/em>,\u00a0\u2014 he\u00a0added.<\/p>\n Patients\u2019 oranizations are very much concerned about the order of\u00a0MOH from July\u00a07, 2014, wich is\u00a0now sent for aproval to\u00a0Cabinet of\u00a0Ministers. The order is\u00a0on\u00a0\u00abAmendents to\u00a0the use of\u00a0costs foreseen in\u00a0county budget for implementation of\u00a0programs and centralized actions\u00bb. This order allows for the price increase by\u00a0up\u00a0to\u00a053% and automatically decreases the quantity of\u00a0medical products and number of\u00a0human lives saved in\u00a0Ukraine by\u00a0almost two fold.<\/p>\n Contact person:<\/p>\n Olexandra Ustinova:
\n<\/i> 067 550 15 70
\n<\/i> Oleksandra.u@ucab.org.ua<\/a><\/p>\n