Real GDP percentage changes over previous period in 2014-2022
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
The All-Ukrainian Union for the Protection of Patients’ Rights and Safety is asking the head office of the Merck Sharp and Home Corp pharmaceutical company to influence its representative office in Ukraine to stop blocking patients’ access to the antifungal generic drug Caspofungin from different manufacturers.
According to the open letter of the patient organization, the text of which is available at Interfax-Ukraine news agency, the Ukrainian representative office of the pharmaceutical company, using the legislative changes adopted after the full-scale invasion by Russia, actually blocked patient access to a number of products by artificially extending the term of its patent, which expired on April 16, 2022.
According to the patients’ information, these include generic drugs Caspofungin-Teva, Caspofungin Acetate manufactured by Gland Pharma Limited, Caspofungin Rompharm manufactured by K.T. Rompharm Company and Kasmig manufactured by Pharmaten UV.
“The people of Ukraine are sincerely grateful to Merck Sharp and Home Corp. for the introduction of humanitarian programs in Ukraine, including the KITRUDA® patient treatment program, but the actions of the company’s Ukrainian representative office to prevent cheaper, generic drugs from entering the market in war conditions is at least unethical,” the organization stressed.
Patients emphasize that “when in Ukraine the ratio of state and patient costs (using cancer patients as an example) for the purchase of medicines is about 20/80, the patients bear the brunt of it”.
“Restricting patients’ access to cheaper generic medicines has now become an issue not only of health, but also of life, because most citizens can no longer afford to buy original medicines at high prices”, the organization believes.
The All-Ukrainian Union for the Protection of Patients’ Rights and Safety initiated an appeal to the Verkhovna Rada to adopt a more unambiguous wording of the law adopted to regulate intellectual property issues after the beginning of a full-scale invasion.
“Given the rather lengthy passage of legislative changes, we ask Merck Sharp & Home Corp. to immediately influence the Ukrainian representative office to stop blocking access to the Ukrainian market of generic medicines, because it leads to additional suffering of patients in war conditions,” the patients stressed.
As reported, the law on the protection of individuals’ interests in the field of intellectual property during martial law, imposed in connection with Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine, was adopted in March 2022. The document extends the validity of all intellectual property rights without exception until the day following the day of termination or cancellation of martial law.
At the same time, experts believe that the norms established by this law led to problems on the pharmaceutical market and made it impossible to introduce and launch production of new drugs.
The German Foreign Ministry, strongly condemning the destruction of the Kakhovskaya HPP, announced the immediate delivery of generators, water filters, water treatment facilities, and equipment for the organization of temporary shelters to the affected regions.
“The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine is a violation of international humanitarian law and results in suffering and hardship for the civilian population as well as catastrophic consequences for the environment. We strongly condemn this malicious act,” the German Foreign Office said on Twitter.
“To help, we have already purchased 56 generators and 5,000 water filters, as well as items for shelter, which will be sent to Ukraine immediately,” the post specifies.
In addition, water purification equipment capable of providing drinking water to 60,000 people and dump trucks for garbage removal are being prepared for transportation. “Our partner organizations working in the region are assisting in the evacuation and distributing food kits to those in need.”
As noted, since the beginning of the war, the FRG has allocated more than 16.8 billion euros to support Ukraine. “This assistance includes humanitarian aid, internships, disaster response, stabilization projects and assistance in war crimes investigations, as well as humanitarian demining operations.”
Six Ukrainian universities were included in the thousand of the most sustainable universities in the annual Impact Rankings of the British rating agency Times Higher Education.
“This year the agency ranked 1,591 universities from 112 countries, 32 of which are Ukrainian, which is the largest representation of universities in the Times Higher Education rankings,” the press service of the Ministry of Education and Science said in a statement.
It is noted that the thousand most stable universities of Ukraine includes: Sumy State University (301-400 world ranking), National University “Lviv Polytechnic” (401-600 world ranking), Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman (801-1000 world ranking), NTU “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute” (801-1000 world ranking), Uzhgorod National University (801-1000 world ranking), SU “Zhytomyr Polytechnic” (801-1000 world ranking).
According to the report, the rating also includes higher education institutions with the greatest success in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“We should also note that the Sumy National Agrarian University is the only agrarian university that made it to the Impact Rankings,” the ministry stressed.
On Thursday, June 8, Kyiv will host a workshop entitled “First Aid in Case of Injuries and Traumas”. It is intended for media representatives who will be able to master the basic skills of first aid in case of injuries and traumas.
The keynote speaker at the seminar will be Mariana Bolyuk, an anesthesiologist and representative of the Adonis Medical Center Group. She is a co-author of 12 scientific publications and has extensive experience in the field of medicine.
The organizers of the seminar attach great importance to this event and provide an opportunity for journalists to gain the necessary knowledge to provide first aid. Participation in the training will allow journalists to respond more effectively to emergencies and act professionally in case of injuries and traumas.
According to Maksym Urakin, co-organizer of the training, media workers are more often involved in emergencies, so the organizers are trying to hold such events on a regular basis to save lives.
“In total, 61 media representatives have been killed during the conflict. In addition, according to media reports, about 500 journalists have been injured or traumatized to varying degrees since the beginning of the war. With the help of our trainings, we are trying to save lives and health of citizens,” said Maksym Urakin.
The seminar was organized by the Kyiv-based think tank Club of Experts; Adonis, medical partner; Help For Ukraine Charitable Foundation; Pryirpin Community Foundation, general partner; Interfax-Ukraine and Open4Business, general media partners.
EXPERTS CLUB, FIRST_AID, JOURNALISTS, MEDIA, PRYIRPIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, URAKIN, АДОНИС
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the war in Ukraine in a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the office of the Turkish head of state said.
According to the report, Erdogan proposed to create a commission with the participation of “experts from the warring parties, the UN and the international community, in particular Turkey, for a detailed investigation of the explosion at the Kakhovska hydroelectric dam.”
The Turkish leader also promised to do everything possible in this matter and said that it is possible to use the method of negotiations, as in the “grain corridor.”
“Stressing that it will not be possible to prevent humanitarian losses on a daily basis as long as conflicts continue, the idea of returning to negotiations must therefore dominate, and said he would resolutely continue his efforts to establish a just peace,” the report said.
