Comparative analysis of availability and affordability of hypoglycaemic medicines for Ukrainian patients during the war 2022-2023

Abstract

Purpose: Diabetes care, particularly type 2 diabetes (T2D), is recognised as a growing challenge in emergency situations. During the humanitarian crisis of war in Ukraine, it is important to focus on ensuring that patients have access to essential medicines for T2D. Since 1 April 2017, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine has been implementing the government programme "Affordable medicines". The List of reimbursed medicines necessary for the treatment of hypertension, diabetes and bronchial asthma includes 3 glucose lowering medicines (GLMs) - gliclazide, metformin, glibenclamide. From 01 April 2019, electronic prescribing has been implemented as part of the "Affordable Medicines" programme. It is important to investigate changes in the availability and affordability of GLMs for the treatment of T2D during the war and future directions in 2022-2023 in Ukraine. Methods: Information from the State Register of Medicinal Products of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine from March 2023 and February 2022 (before the start of the war) was the subject of the study. Marketing, analytical, graphical, generalisation analyses were applied. Analysis of the cost of 1 DDD GLM according to the WHO ATC/DDD index and solvency ratio analysis were applied. Results: This study is based on actual data from before the war in Ukraine and now shows that the affordability and availability of GLMs during the war in 2022-2023 has not changed dramatically. The 'Affordable Medicines' program was stably implemented, with €111.9 million allocated in 2023 and within 6 months of 2023. The National Health Service of Ukraine reimbursed €42.8 million to pharmacies for the Reimbursement List. Most Ukrainian manufacturers and foreign GLMs are very affordable due to the reimbursement system. From October 2023, 23 names of test stripes were included in the Reimbursement list of the "Affordable medicines" programme. However, foreign GLMs of innovative groups are moderately affordable for the working population based on the calculated solvency ratio. Conclusions: Our study revealed that despite the challenges of war, the healthcare system in Ukraine remains robust, particularly in ensuring stable access to pharmaceuticals for diabetes treatment. The "Affordable Medicines" programme and the Reimbursement List are updated twice a year, and the introduction of the new drugs for T2D and diabetes insipidus was completed in 2022. Thus, the innovative GLMs, despite being registered on the market in 2022, such as Semaglutide, Semaglutide and Dapagliflozin, are not affordable in 2023. A prospective trend is the inclusion of innovative GLMs for diabetes better care on the reimbursement list.