Dental prostheses for the military and PET-CT for cancer patients: the 2024 draft budget will increase spending on medicine
[ad_1]
In the draft state budget for 2024, expenditures on medicine are planned to increase by UAH 24.4 billion compared to 2023. UAH 201.9 billion is earmarked for health care, the Ministry of Health reported. In which directions the funding was increased UAH 159 million was allocated to finance the Medical Guarantee Program, which is UAH 16 billion more than last year. “This will make it possible to prioritize tariffs for surgical and burn packages, as well as packages for psychological support and psychiatric care,” the Ministry of Health says. The reimbursement program (the process by which the health care system affects the availability of medicines and medical services for the population) will be expanded by UAH 90 million to reimburse the cost of medicines for the treatment of mental and behavioral disorders. Photo: gorVetushko/Depositphotos Expenditures for neonatal screening (complex examination of newborns) will increase by UAH 83.6 million. The non-governmental organization “Patients of Ukraine” in a comment to “UP Life” noted that, in general, the 2024 medical budget is focused primarily on the needs of Ukrainians affected by the war, which is, without a doubt, correct. “The fact that funding has increased is good, but it is not enough to ensure the ability of the health care system to effectively respond to the challenges of war. For this, it is worth investing at least UAH 200 billion in the Medical Guarantee Program. This is explained by the heavy burden on the health care system, “related to the war, an increase in the number of wounded people who need surgical interventions, a 50% increase in the number of strokes and heart attacks, an increase in the need for psychological and psychiatric help, as well as the rehabilitation of victims of the war,” says the NGO. What areas will be financed by the state for the first time In 2024, a package of auxiliary reproductive technologies (cryopreservation of biomaterial) will appear for the first time in the Program of Medical Guarantees, for which more than UAH 1.5 billion has been invested. Also, UAH 749 million has been earmarked for the launch of a pilot project on subsidized dentures for the military. The Ministry of Health notes that starting in 2024, funding for transplantation will be transferred from an experimental project to the Program of Medical Guarantees. As Viktoria Romanyuk, co-founder of the public organization “Athena. Women Against Cancer”, informed “UP.Zhyttia”, for the first time in 2024, the PMG will include PET-CT – a modern method of cancer diagnosis, which is used for early diagnosis of cancer, assessment of the prevalence of the tumor process and effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Previously, this expensive procedure was not included in the list of free services and patients had to do it at their own expense. In the budget for 2024, UAH 1.6 billion is provided for PET-CT. What other expenditures on medicine are foreseen in the 2024 budget? UAH 9.4 billion will be allocated for the centralized procurement of medicines and medical products. The NGO “Patients of Ukraine” believes that a larger amount should be invested in the centralized procurement of medicines and medical devices: at least 12 billion, 2 billion of which should go to the purchase of innovative expensive drugs under managed access contracts that patients cannot afford to buy . Also, the existing budget will not allow to expand the list of medicines and cover all the necessary needs. According to Victoria Romanyuk, the budget for the centralized purchase of medicines should be increased, and at least UAH 2 billion should be added for innovative medicines. The NGO “Patients of Ukraine” notes that almost 300 rare diseases have been approved in Ukraine, only 5% of them are financed by the state. “Such people usually need expensive, continuous life-long treatment. And this treatment is often not available in pharmacies. So the state should take care of such people by expanding the range of purchases of drugs for orphan patients,” says the NGO. Almost 2.8 billion is planned for the purchase of the latest medical equipment. UAH 300 million is planned to be allocated for the modernization of medical institutions that are part of the capable network. Another 550 million hryvnias are earmarked for the response system to emergency events in the field of public health. UAH 1.4 billion are planned to be allocated for the reform of regional bureaus of forensic medical expertise. In addition, according to “PU”, the draft budget critically reduced expenditures on the National Health Service, which was already underfunded. “If we want to have a strong state institution capable of effectively managing the network of hospitals, it should be supported, not destroyed,” the organization believes. Read also: Leap from the Soviet Union: how tactical medicine is developing in Ukraine
[ad_2]
Original Source Link
