In Russia, children with viral hepatitis were left without treatment in 2023

Severe patients thrown with medicines

Such news usually comes at the end of the year: the Russian government has included only 5 out of 20 recommended drugs in the List of Vital and Essential Drugs for 2023. The government decree was published on November 28 and caused a strong reaction from patients. Drugs not included in the Vital and Essential Drugs (List of Vital and Essential Drugs – Ed.) are not available not only to beneficiaries, but also to many other patients for whom this treatment is vital. Among them are drugs for the treatment of heart and lung diseases, hemophilia, hepatitis C, and cancer.

According to the co-chairman of the All-Russian Union of Patients Yuri Zhulev, only 5 of the 20 drugs approved by the special commission of the Ministry of Health of Russia were included in the list of Vital and Essential Drugs for 2023. None of the drugs recommended by the commission were included in the VZN.

“The situation is unprecedented. Moreover, all drugs have passed the necessary chain of approvals, were recommended by the main freelance specialists of the Ministry of Health, received the opinions of clinicians, – says Yury Zhulev. – Moreover, under the federal program of high-cost nosologies (VZN), applications for the next year have even been formed. With many patients, work has been carried out to transfer to new drugs, this happens, as a rule, in the case when the old therapy is ineffective. Now patients with chronic disabling diseases such as many types of cancer, hemophilia, multiple sclerosis will not be able to access innovative drugs or modern forms of drugs.”

For example, the list did not include drugs for which the members of the Vital and Essential Drugs Committee voted unanimously, intended for the treatment of hepatitis C in children aged 3-11 years. This is the only treatment option for them, other than interferon injections, which are painful and retarded in babies. There are few children with hepatitis C in Russia, because the infection is transmitted only through blood. But four years ago, their official number increased dramatically when it became known that in the Amur region for 10 years, 169 children with cancer were infected with hepatitis C in the hospital. Another 85 children with co-infection have been waiting for treatment since 2023 under the federal program, delay for them was like death.

“To say we are disappointed is an understatement. We have long been observing with surprise the opposition of the Government of the Russian Federation to the instructions of the President in the fight against hepatitis, who promised to allocate the necessary funds to fight them. But with the inclusion of the children’s form of drugs for the treatment of hepatitis C in vital and essential drugs, the situation is completely inexplicable. We know that, legally, the absence of a drug in Vital and Essential Drugs does not prohibit buying it under compulsory medical insurance or regional programs. But there are very few brave regions ready to answer the questions of the Accounts Chamber: why the drug was bought at such a price, says Nikita Kovalenko, chairman of the board of the patient organization. – As a result, children who have already been given hope will remain without treatment. Including children with co-infection: for them, the drug will not be 100% bought, there has already been a precedent. And they have a very high risk of developing cirrhosis of the liver. I want to remind you about 169 patients of the Blagoveshchensk Children’s Cancer Center – about 20 of them received therapy. The rest were just waiting for the children’s uniform.

Yury Zhulev notes that the Patients’ Union intends to apply to the Government for clarification: “We assume that the Government could see the risks of additional expenses from the federal and regional budgets, the CHI system. Although, for example, drugs that will increase the budget are not included in the VZN anyway.”

Patients believe that the situation will be corrected and they will not be left alone with their illnesses.