UNIAN
Proposed new laws before parliament will eliminate corruption in medicine procurement procedures and reduce the cost of drugs, according to the Advisor to the President of Ukraine and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Public Health Olha Bohomolets.
Bohomolets was speaking during a live radio broadcast about bills No. 2150 and No. 2151, which would delegate medicine and medical device procurement to specialized international organizations, rather than the Health Ministry
"The drugs will be procured in the international packaging, which will save 15% of the cost, with another 15% to be saved due to purchasing in bulk from international organizations. Another 7% of cost may be saved by eliminating VAT and additional import duty. Without the component of corruption, we will get savings of 42%, or UAH 348 million. The amount saved will be enough to provide medical treatment for 21,000 HIV-positive people, purchase 1,455,000 vaccines for infants, anti-TB drugs for 15,355 patients or to treat 840 patients with viral hepatitis", Bohomolets said.
She also added that the laws, unfortunately, relate only to purchases that are made centrally by the Ministry of Health, and do not affect the funds of over UAH 1.7 billion that have been provided as subsidies to local budgets.
Bohomolets also noted that when procuring medicines, priority should be given to domestic producers of pharmaceutical products.
Voting for the bills is scheduled for Thursday, March 19.