The main goal for the coming 3 years was approved at the General Assembly meeting of the Ukrainian Community Advisory Board (UCAB) on February, 10 – 11, 2012, which states: To ensure that all patients get effective treatment in Ukraine by uniting activists and changing state policy in the area of health care. The meeting was facilitated by the leading expert in NGOs development issues Raminta Sruikyte and was supported by International Renaissance Foundation.
“Ukrainian health care policy is extremely week and corrupt today – said Dmytro Sherembey, the UCAB Chair. – The only possibility to ensure effective treatment for all Ukrainian patients is to totally change the system by uniting the efforts of activists, pharmaceutical business and state bodies’ representatives. We made a decision to focus our activities on 4 most dangerous diseases: HIV/AIDS, HCV, TB and cancer, where the first two are prioritized. Our choice was not accidental, as these patients are in urgent need of treatment for their lives totally depend on the drugs they get.”
UCAB members identified four priority areas for their work:
- To raise transparency of state and procurement processes.
- To improve drugs quality control in Ukraine with special focus on WHO prequalification for HIV and TB medicines.
- To decrease drugs prices by monitoring of state pricing and negotiating with pharmaceutical companies, which includes intellectual property issues.
- To advocate for Virus Hepatitis National Program financing in Ukraine.
- Another priority area of the organization for the coming there years is capacity building of its members by involving expertise and organizing education of different types in order to create professional organization of patient advocates.
Source: www.ucab.org.ua