Round table on optimizing the cost of HIV treatment and diagnostic tools in Kyrgyzstan

On June 20, Bishkek hosted a round table organized by the Partnership Network Association and the Health Advocacy Coalition (HAC). The event was held with the financial support of the CO “100% of Life” , Alliance for Public Health and ITPC EECA within the framework of the SOS_2.0 project and the project “Using Flexible TRIPS provisions to increase the availability of HIV treatment”.

The meeting was attended by the Department of Medicines and Medical Devices at the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Medical Insurance Fund at the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, the State Enterprise “Kyrgyzfarmation”, the Center for the Development of Healthcare and Medical Technologies, the Republican Center for the Control of Hemocontact Viral Hepatitis and HIV at the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as representatives of international organizations and the patients community.

During the event, the Partnership Network Association presented three reports: “Analysis of purchases of ARV drugs and drugs for the treatment of hepatitis C in 2022”, “Analysis of purchases of test systems for monitoring HIV treatment in Kyrgyzstan in 2021-2022” and “Analysis of purchases of express tests for HIV diagnosis in 2021-2022 in Kyrgyzstan”.

In the presentation of the report on ARV drugs, the country’s successes in ensuring low prices for medicines were highlighted. For example, in 2023 in Kyrgyzstan, the FDC of tenofovir/dolutegravir /lamivudine was purchased for as low as 5.5 US dollars per package. The coverage of dolutegravir in the country was about 91%, which is one of the highest rates in the EECA region. In the second line of treatment, the use of lopinavir/ritonavir was practically abandoned in favor of other options – dolutegravir, atazanavir/ritonavir, darunavir/ritonavir.

In the presentation of the report on the procurement of test systems, an insufficient number of purchased resistance tests was shown, despite the presence in national protocols of a recommendation on the implementation of mandatory resistance testing before starting treatment.

Despite the successes, prices in the government procurements are still higher than in Global Fund procurement. In this regard, it is necessary to contin
ue work on ensuring the procurement of generics, which in turn will significantly reduce prices and expand the coverage of ARV drugs and diagnostics.

A new state procurement agency “Kyrgyzfarmation” under the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, which will carry out centralized purchases of medicines and medical devices at the expense of the state budget, was discussed separately. The participants asked the representative of the State Enterprise “Kyrgyzfarmation” about their activities and procurement mechanisms. The need to establish cooperation with “Kyrgyzfarmation” to ensure transparency and efficiency of work was noted.

The experts also discussed the need to create a commission for negotiations with the participation of civil society’ representatives.

Full reports will be available in the nearest future.