More than EUR 2.2 million approved for urgent Trikafta procurement
Skopje, 9 February 2023 (MIA) — More than EUR 2.2 million have been approved for the immediate procurement of Trikafta, the prescription medicine used for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said after meeting with representatives of the national Cystic Fibrosis Association Thursday following the death of Blagojche Ilievski who died from the disorder while waiting for the medically necessary treatment to become available through the national healtcare system.
At the meeting, according to an official press release, PM Kovachevski expressed condolences to meeting participants over the premature death of Ilievski. He also pledged that he would not allow any patient in the country to be marginalized because their therapy was expensive.
The prime minister said a team of medical advisers and experts from the Health Insurance Fund, the Macedonian Agency for Medicines and Medical Equipment, Public Procurement Bureau, the Clinic for Children's Diseases as well as Cystic Fibrosis Association representatives by the end of next week should propose changes to the Law on Public Procurement, the Law on Medicines, and the Law on Health Insurance to simplify procedures to obtain the therapy and make it available to all patients who need it.
“By amending existing legal regulations,” Kovachevski said, “the state would be procuring the necessary therapy in direct negotiations with the drug manufacturer.”
Also, he said, the state would be preparing its first-ever program for patients with cystic fibrosis and earmarking funds from the budget for the prescription medicine over the next three years. mr/
