Medvedev instructed to purchase drugs for tuberculosis and HIV

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has instructed the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Economic Development to work out the issue of drug supply for patients suffering from HIV infection and tuberculosis by April 5, 2017.

“The Ministry of Health of Russia (V.I. Skvortsova), the Ministry of Finance of Russia (A.G. Siluanov), and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia (M.S. Oreshkin) are to work out the issue of additional procurement of inactivated polio vaccine within the framework of the National Calendar of Preventive Vaccinations, as well as the drug supply for persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and persons with tuberculosis with multiple drug resistance of the pathogen, with antibacterial and anti-tuberculosis drugs for medical use, and submit agreed proposals to the Government of the Russian Federation,” states the list of instructions published on the website of the Russian Government.

Since January 1, 2017, drugs for HIV treatment have been procured centrally. According to Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova, just two weeks after the centralization was introduced, the situation with drug supply for HIV patients changed for the better.

“And thank God we did it. For the first time, we made all regions show us these patients, create a register, and, moreover, justify the application for drugs for each patient, taking into account the form, stage, etc., justifying the correct scheme recommended by WHO,” she said.

On the public procurement portal zakupki.gov.ru, the Ministry of Health has not placed a single tender for the procurement of ARV drugs in 2017.

According to the State Strategy for Countering the Spread of HIV Infection, approved by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, by 2020, the coverage of HIV testing in Russia is planned to increase to 35% (this figure was 20% in 2016). It is also expected that by this time, 56% of patients registered at dispensaries will be receiving antiretroviral drugs (this figure was 37.3% in 2015).