The national list of drugs proposed by the Ukrainian Health Ministry is outdated for Ukraine, it is not in line with diseases present in Ukraine, and its introduction will throw the Ukrainian health system 30 years backwards, members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine have said.

"The WHO list taken as a basis for the creation of the single national list was drawn up to satisfy basic needs of undeveloped African countries where there is almost no healthcare system. The national list that should be in line with the needs of the most vulnerable Ukrainian patients has drugs for treating malaria or African helminthiasis which are not widely spread in Ukraine. The list has few medicines to treat cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, arthritis, bronchial asthma, etc. The introduction of the list would bring the Ukrainian healthcare system at least 30 years backwards, while state procurement under the list will be formal, only for the sake of the procurement process, which will not take into account the needs of patients and clinical efficiency indicators," reads a letter sent by the Chamber to Health Minister Alexander Kvitashvili and his deputies Oleksandra Pavlenko and Ihor Perehynets.

In its letter, the Chamber says it does not welcome the initiative to introduce the single national list of drugs proposed by the Health Ministry in the form as was announced several times on the ministry's website and during meetings of the expert group on the deregulation of the pharmaceutical market.

"We're convinced that the implementation of the initiative will result in the reduction of the level of access of patients to drugs, especially innovation drugs. However, media reports of the Health Ministry contain information that all participants of the expert group jointly with representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine supported the initiative. The Chamber believes that the creation of the national list of drugs requires a more thorough selection of experts (national and international) and time for discussion," the Chamber said.

The Chamber proposed that in 2015 state procurement should be conducted under the procedure and the list of 2014 and in June 2015 the process of creating the expert group to define the list of drugs for state procurement for 2016 and the elaboration of the legislative base should be started.

Chamber members have insisted on holding a meeting of its representatives with Deputy Health Minister Perehynets to discuss issues linked to reimbursement, state procurement, and price formation.