The government is being asked to force pharmacies to sell narcotic painkillers

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Ministry of Health must do everything possible to correct the critical situation with palliative patients' access to painkillers. With this letter, the non-governmental organization "Ukrainian League for the Development of Palliative and Hospice Care" ("League") appealed to state authorities.

"We ask that item 2 "Opioid analgesics" of Chapter II "Drugs for pain treatment and providing palliative care" of the National List be supplemented with drugs (fentanyl, etc.) and modern medicinal forms of these drugs (plasters, etc.) necessary for pain relief, in accordance with European treatment protocols. , as well as at the legislative level to oblige pharmacies to obtain the necessary license for the sale of controlled medicinal products and to ensure their availability", the letter states.

According to Vasyl Knyazevich, the chairman of the board of "League", in Ukraine, out of almost 23,000 pharmacies, only 520 (!) have the appropriate license and the right to dispense painkillers. "In our country, there is a disaster with access to painkillers for terminally ill patients. In most settlements, especially in rural areas, there are no pharmacies where they are sold. According to the information of the UN International Narcotics Control Committee, Ukraine ranks 41st in Europe among 42 countries and 122nd in the world among 179 countries in terms of providing painkillers," Knyazevich said.

The state should take control of the situation by creating such legislation and conditions that the pharmacy business is obliged to ensure the availability of palliative anesthesia for citizens.