Украинцы, кто знает подробности?

Ukraine’s Value for Money

Offering value for money is the cornerstone of any good investment. In Ukraine, partners of the Global Fund acted on an opportunity to take a big step forward in fighting hepatitis C, a chronic liver disease that can be especially deadly when it strikes HIV patients. Alliance Ukraine, with the support of the Global Fund, negotiated a steep discount with a pharmaceutical manufacturer for medication, enabling treatment to be significantly expanded for highly vulnerable patients co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C. It is the first time the treatment, combining Pegylated Interferon and Ribavarin, will be available in a Global Fund-supported program in Ukraine, where the high cost of medication has until now been a serious impediment to treatment.

“It’s becoming increasingly clear that fighting HIV and TB in countries like Ukraine where the HIV epidemic is driven by injecting drug use is impossible without treating hepatitis C,” said Andriy Klepikov, Executive Director of Alliance Ukraine. Mortality rates from hepatitis C are significantly higher among people who inject drugs and are already HIV-positive. According to official statistics, every fifth person with HIV in Ukraine is infected with hepatitis C, yet experts say the true figure may be far higher.

The hepatitis C treatment initiative, led by civil society organizations, has stimulated action by the government. On 4 September, Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers approved a national program for hepatitis with US$4.2 million this year. Vice Prime Minister Konstantin Gryshenko publicly thanked non-governmental organizations for their persistence and cooperation. “Glad that the document we promoted and worked over so hard is signed,” he tweeted.

The agreement was achieved with the cooperation of drug maker MSD and facilitated by the Pledge Guarantee for Health, an initiative that facilitates private sector finance to speed up delivery of health products and medicines. Alliance Ukraine will acquire the drugs at a cost of US$5,000 for a single 48-week course of treatment, a dramatic reduction from the previous price of US$13,200. Klepikov said it was clear that the initiative had helped catalyze government support. He added that the Health Ministry acknowledged that the US$5,000 price would now be considered by the Ministry as a benchmark for governmental procurement of the medication.