KYIV, Ukraine--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At a press conference convened by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation Ukraine today, a group of patients, experts and activists delivered a strong message that the country is experiencing a preventable tuberculosis (TB) outbreak this year due to the failure of state procurements to obtain essential medications. Activists urged that immediate measures be taken to address the crisis, including distributing needed medical supplies, creating transparent procurement systems and assessing the effectiveness of TB treatment for each patient in accordance to international standards.
“In Ukraine, medications are procured annually by the Ministry of Health. The inability of the previous procurement team at the Ministry to ensure the supply of life-saving medicine for six months has had a devastating impact on our country’s citizens,” noted Serhiy Fedorov, Head of AIDS Healthcare Foundation Ukraine. “Almost 50,000 people will need these drugs early next year—and even the most inexpensive medications for treatment of regular tuberculosis are unavailable in the country. With almost 9,500 patients with drug resistant TB and 8,290 people living with HIV and TB, there is an undeniable need for immediate access to these essential medications.”
Since July, the Ministry has made several attempts to procure the medications. Most of the state tenders have been finished in December only, but Isoniazid—the foundation of first line TB treatment—has yet to be procured. Almost 30,000 patients are in need of first line treatment in Ukraine annually, and without Isoniazid the rest of the first line medications cannot be used. The drugs for MDR TB have not yet been delivered to the healthcare facilities which forced the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) to step in and provide a short term urgent supply. However, this delivery covers only a part of the need.
“There are no drugs at the [TB] facility. I am offered either to stay at the hospital with no treatment whatsoever or to buy the drugs on my own,” says Liliya from Kirovohrad, who has been diagnosed with pulmonary MDR TB. “Actually, the only available treatment we have is a bed at in-patient care.”
Without adequate medical treatment, the infectious disease poses the risk of developing into a large-scale epidemic. “Every individual using public transport or staying in the places with high concentration of people (shops, offices, movies theatres, malls) faces the risk of contracting TB,” notes Dr. Yaroslava Lopatina, medical coordinator for AIDS Healthcare Foundation Ukraine.
Each year, almost 30,000 individuals in Ukraine are newly diagnosed with tuberculosis—and more than 6,000 lives are claimed by the disease. Tuberculosis is responsible for more than sixty percent of deaths for people living with both HIV and TB, a number that is likely to increase significantly without effective treatment. According to financial estimates, the losses caused by the TB epidemic in Ukraine equal some 3.7 billion hryvnia (230 mln. USD) annually.1
Following the press conference, AHF Europe had a face-to-face meeting with Alexander Kvitashvili, the newly appointed Minister of Health of Ukraine, during which Kvitashvili confirmed that the procurement of drugs, including TB medications, is one of his top priorities and promised urgent measures will be taken by the government.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)
In 2009 AHF launched operations in Ukraine. The Foundation has been implementing its core programs on ART provision, testing and prevention as well as advocacy in several regions (oblasts) of Ukraine featuring the highest epidemic rates or limited access to services: the city of Kyiv and Kyiv oblast, Luhansk, Mykolayiv and Odesa oblasts.
9,676 clients in Ukraine are provided with high quality services at decentralized sites supported by the AHF in partnership with the state institutions, as of November 1, 2014.
