Priority is given to the treatment of diseases that primarily affect the main mortality rates of the population or are effectively treated on an outpatient basis: cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes and bronchial asthma.

Medicines will become more affordable in 2017. The government has earmarked UAH 500 million for drug reimbursement in the 2017 State Budget.

“Our goal is to provide the maximum number of people with affordable and high-quality medicines. Thanks to the introduction of reimbursement, we will not only reduce the prices of basic medicines and make them more affordable for patients, but also reduce mortality and the number of complications due to diseases,” said the Acting Director. Ulyana Suprun, Minister of Health of Ukraine.

Ukraine ranks second in the world in the number of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases (over 65%). In 2015, about 1 million people suffering from type II diabetes were registered in Ukraine, which is 6 times more than patients with type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent), and 210 thousand patients with bronchial asthma.

The reimbursement program will be fully operational from April 1, 2017. Medicines for which funds will be reimbursed will be prescribed by primary care doctors (family doctors, therapists, pediatricians) by international non-proprietary names (INN), that is, by the active substance, and not by the commercial name.

Free medicines are part of the guaranteed package of primary care services. The cost of drugs will be reimbursed at the price of the cheapest generic. In total, there will be 21 INNs (16 – cardiovascular diseases, 2 – type II diabetes, 3 – bronchial asthma) from the updated National List of Medicines (according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization).

About 90% of medicines in Ukraine are bought at the expense of patients. At the same time, patients consume drugs that do not correspond to the prevalence of diseases, and give priority to secondary drugs.

The reimbursement program will help reduce the prices of basic medicines, increase the consumption of basic medicines, increase their availability, promote the rational use of budget funds and, most importantly, improve the health of Ukrainians.

According to the materials of kmu.gov.ua