Hepatitis C medicines worth Gel 560 million have expired
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Monday, January 13
Hepatitis C medicines worth GEL 560 645 083 that Georgia got for free in terms of elimination program have expired. This is stated in the financial audit of the Minister of IDPs from the occupied territories, labor, health and social affairs, published by the State Audit Office last week.
The document cites the definition of a social service agency and reads that the main reason for the expiry of medicines is the sharp decline in beneficiaries since July 2017.
Besides that, according to the report, at the initial stage of the program launch in 2015, the main medication was Sofosbuvir (Sovaldi), prescribed with other medicines (Interferon and Ribavirin), has been replaced by a new drug – Harvoni. Since February 2016, the drug that changed treatment regimes caused a dramatic decline in the usage of the above-mentioned initial drugs. The agency also explains that there are cases of arbitrary termination of treatment or death of patients.
The Audit Office recommends to the Ministry of Healthcare to improve the information system within the framework of the Hepatitis C program so that information on internal transfers and balances can be obtained at the medical level.
The document also notes that GEL 15.4 million was allocated from the budget for the management of hepatitis C in 2018, however, only GEL 4 741,000 was spent and the rest was allocated to other programs.
“According to the explanations provided by the Ministry, the low absorption rate is caused by the decrease in the number of patients. It should be noted that this sub-program has been characterized by a consistently low utilization rate in recent years, which was not taken into consideration by the Ministry during the budget planning phase,” reads the audit report.
According to Amiran Gamkrelidze, director of the National Center for Disease Control, the issue of hepatitis C is misinterpreted.
As Gamkrelidze stated at the briefing, the written-off sum, GEL 560 645 083, is a donation and not budget money. According to him, in 2013-2015 the price of medicines for the hepatitis C program was higher than today. He also spoke of the importance of investing in a strategic supply, discussing the examples of diphtheria or snake toxic serum, 200-300 doses of the letter are bought every year, even though only 10-15 is used, thus the rest is written off. As Gamkrelidze says, there should always be a certain amount of medicines in the strategic stock for the benefit of more beneficiaries.
“We treat 1000-1200 people every month, that is to say, we always have to have a certain amount in our strategic stock as we try to achieve a monthly turnover rate… 16,000 people who are antigen-positive have not come for treatment. For people who decide to get involved in treatment, we have to have supplies,” said Gamkrelidze.
According to him, it is about writing down 2000 packages of medicine. “This is not half a billion GEL worth of medicines. This is 2000 packs, which is a 2-month treatment dose. Today's cost is several hundred times less,” explained Gamkrelidze.
One of the leaders of the United National Movement, Roman Gotsiridze says this money has been wasted.
“We are now demanding that an investigation be launched into this case. These are facts of negligence and alleged corruption at the expense of human health. The hepatitis C program was a unique gift from our friend state,” Gotsiridze said, adding that noting without the help of the US, no developed country could afford this extremely expensive treatment.
According to him, in Georgia, only 58 000 patients have been cured by the hepatitis C program. Whereas, the goal was curing 120,000.
“The fact that there is a complete crisis of governance, the country is unconstitutional, abducted by one person, the decision-making system and management are disrupted, there is elite corruption in the country. The existing informal oligarchic form of governance does not allow for the effective dissemination of such programs. This is the reason why several thousand people did not receive the medication on time and, it turns out that it should be destroyed,” Gotsiridze said.
He said the prosecutor's office should be interested in the issue of hepatitis C medication.
