Using the services of the British purchasing agency Crown Agents allowed the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to save more than $62 million, or 40% of the budget funds, in five years.
This is stated in a study conducted by Crown Agents and the Center for the Study of Corruption at the University of Sussex.
According to the study, in the first year of Crown Agents’ cooperation with the Ministry of Health, more than 75% of medicines were purchased at a lower cost than in the previous year.
“The overall amount lost to corrupt practices in healthcare is estimated to be around $500 billion annually, and procurement is the biggest risk area,” Liz David-Barrett, the director of the Center for the Study of Corruption at the University of Sussex, said.
“COVID-19 has provided a window of opportunity to tackle corrupt procurement practices in healthcare systems across the world,” she said.
Ukraine has recorded 3,306 new cases of COVID-19, along with 13,298 recoveries and 156 related deaths over the past 24 hours, the press service of the Ukrainian Health Ministry said on Facebook on Friday morning.
“Ukraine has registered 3,306 new daily cases of the coronavirus infection as of May 28, 2021, including 169 children and 77 medical workers. Also, 1,402 people have been admitted to hospitals. Medics have recorded 156 fatalities and 13,298 recoveries over the past day,” it said.
Ukraine reported 3,509 new COVID-19 cases on May 27, 3,395 on May 26, and 2,608 on May 25.
Ukraine has recorded a total of 2,196,673 cases of COVID-19, including 50,232 deaths and 2,020,216 recoveries, since the pandemic began.
CORONAVIRUS, CORONAVIRUS CASES, COVID-19, HEALTH MINISTRY OF UKRAINE
As of Tuesday morning, 2,208 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) disease were recorded in Ukraine, 8,617 people recovered and 119 people died, Minister of Health of Ukraine Maksym Stepanov has said.
“Some 2,208 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Ukraine as of May 11, 2021. In particular, 89 children and 34 health workers fell ill. Also, over the past day, 1,084 people were hospitalized, 119 people died and 8,617 people recovered,” Stepanov said on his Facebook page on Tuesday morning.
A day earlier, on May 10, some 2,817 new COVID-19 cases were reported, on May 9, some 5,372 new cases of COVID-19 infection were recorded, on May 8, there were 8,710 new cases of COVID-19 infection, on May 7, some 8,404 new cases of COVID-19 were reported, 6,038 new cases of COVID-19 infection were recorded on May 6, some 2,576 new COVID-19 cases were reported on May 5, and some 2,472 new cases of COVID-19 infection were reported on May 4.
The number of infected since the beginning of the pandemic on Tuesday morning was 2.125 million people, 46,631 patients died, and 1.777 million people recovered.
Over the past day, the largest number of confirmed cases was registered in Donetsk (325), Kharkiv (213), Dnipropetrovsk (191), Zaporizhia (169) and Mykolaiv (132) regions.
Over May 10, 2021, some 2,194 people were vaccinated in Ukraine and 865,590 people were vaccinated since the beginning of the vaccination campaign. Some 695 people have completed vaccination (received two shots) (of which two people received one shot abroad).
The Ministry of Health is awaiting the final decision of the European Union regarding immune passports and their introduction in Ukraine, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said during the “Hour of Questions” to the government in the Verkhovna Rada on Friday.
“On April 13, the EU presented a draft immune passports, which, in addition to the vaccination mark, provide for a mark on the PCR testing and the amount of antibodies. This caused a heated discussion. We expect a final decision from them,” he said.
“For their part, specialists from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Digital Transformation are working with European partners regarding the required data. We are fully prepared for any development of events, because the central component of e-Health is ready to upload data,” the minister added.
HEALTH MINISTER, HEALTH MINISTRY OF UKRAINE, IMMUNE PASSPORTS
Minister of Health Maksym Stepanov welcomes the import of vaccines to the private market, but spoke about the nuances.
“In order to import a vaccine, it must first be registered. We have now adopted a fast registration regime for emergency use. We welcome the import of vaccines by any business to the private market,” Stepanov said on the air on the Ukraine24 TV channel.
According to him, in the near future due to the frenzied demand for vaccines in the private market, some countries prohibit the export of their vaccines from the territory where their production is located, despite the concluded contracts and paid funds.
“Therefore, they are sold exclusively to states. We are in constant communication with all manufacturers of vaccines, asking about the possibility of their appearance on the private market,” Stepanov said.
The minister also explained the possibility of bringing Cuban vaccine against COVID-19 to Ukraine.
“We must first look at the documents in order to draw conclusions,” Stepanov said.
