The President instructed to ensure the availability of medical products for diabetics

Yesterday, at a meeting with the government, the president instructed the Ministry of Health to present a solution to the problem of the shortage of medical products for the life support of patients with diabetes within a week. According to the Popular Front (ONF), they are now complaining about a shortage of insulin delivery devices and consumables, since the regions need federal funding to purchase them. According to Kommersant, the Ministry of Health has already completed work on a specialized federal project, but its funding is 30 billion rubles. for 2023–2025 – looks insufficient.

Yesterday, at a meeting of the president with members of the government, the head of the Ministry of Health, Mikhail Murashko, announced the structure of the goals of the new federal project “Fighting Diabetes Mellitus.” Now the purchase of drugs and consumables for patients with diabetes is the responsibility of the regions: after the end of the Federal Targeted Program “Prevention and Control of Socially Significant Diseases” subprogram in 2012, and in the last ten years, most of the regions have reduced their expenses to combat this disease, which forced the federal government in 2022, begin the development of a new federal program. Now, according to the Ministry of Health, in Russia there are 5.3 million people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes (58 thousand are children). The cost of providing medications to such patients amounts to 60 billion rubles. per year, and, according to ONF estimates, regions often do not have enough of this amount to provide for all those in need.

As the head of the ONF, Mikhail Kuznetsov, said at the meeting, during a survey of Russians, the ONF found that up to 70% of patients with diabetes faced a shortage of devices and more than 80% of respondents faced a shortage of consumables for these devices. “There is a long wait or refusal to issue systems equipped with an insulin pump, which is primarily necessary for children. The second is the shortage of sensor systems that do not inject insulin, but transmit data to the phone, for the older category of children. This is the most common problem; we detect it in 63 regions. And thirdly, there is a shortage of consumables, we are recording it in 65 regions, primarily sensors for pumps,” he listed, adding that auctions for devices and consumables have not been held in 27 regions, and in 21 regions there is no provision regional benefit in money. As a result, parents of sick children are regularly forced to defend their right to treatment in the courts. In turn, Vladimir Putin instructed the head of the Ministry of Health, Mikhail Murashko, who was present, to present him with his proposals for solving the problem of shortage of devices and consumables in a week.

However, the task of helping the regions provide at least some of the patients with the medical supplies and medicines they need was already stated by the minister during the presentation of the new federal project “Fighting Diabetes Mellitus.” As Mr. Murashko explained, there are five areas in it: first of all, the Ministry of Health plans to develop the infrastructure of diabetes services, primarily in rural areas, and equip medical institutions with equipment for identifying and monitoring the condition of patients. In addition, 39 regions will also receive equipment to treat the consequences of diabetes – diabetic foot and retinopathy (degradation of retinal vessels). “The second group of measures is to ensure the operation of schools for patients with diabetes. For patients with the first type, this is an adaptation, and for the second type of diabetes mellitus, it is also an opportunity to stop the course, since lifestyle to a certain extent influences the aggressiveness and development of this disease. The third group of measures is the training of health workers. The project also provides for the creation of a single coordination center under the leadership of the Federal Center for Endocrinology,” the minister noted. The fourth direction is financial assistance to regions in providing children with type 1 diabetes with continuous glucose monitoring systems; fifth – scientific and technical activities that will help pharmaceutical companies in the development of domestic drugs.

As follows from the letter from the Ministry of Health to the government describing the parameters of the federal project (Kommersant has it), 30 billion rubles are planned for it in 2023–2025, and this is not enough: according to calculations by the subordinate structures of the Ministry of Health itself, for effective fight against the disease and prevention the most severe complications require at least 100 billion rubles. per year (see “Kommersant” dated May 5, 2022). It is obvious that at the current level of expenses (60 billion rubles per year), the implementation of a federal project with expenses of 10 billion rubles. per year is unlikely to radically change the situation. However, it is possible that in the coming week the Ministry of Health, guided by the president’s instructions, will propose to revise its parameters and invite the Ministry of Finance to agree on additional sources of funds to increase its financing.

Anastasia Manuilova