There is a humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine: the Institute of Tuberculosis is on the verge of closure
Today, a critical situation has developed at the Institute of Tuberculosis - the state does not finance the treatment of tuberculosis patients, although this is provided for by the law of Ukraine. In addition, there is a deficit of UAH 2 million in the payment of wages to employees.
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This was announced by the director of the National Institute of Phthisiology and Pulmonology. Yanovsky Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, academician Yuriy Feshchenko in an interview with the Kyiv agency UNN.
“It so happened that for today, namely for the month of January, we have zero hryvnia to finance the nutrition of patients, and until January 20, zero hryvnia was also allocated for medicines. And besides, an increase in wages. We have 1124 employees and 28 of them are eligible for salary increases. So it’s not like someone gave us something for this compensation - we have a deficit in the clinic section - 2 million 334 thousand. And this is for the month of January. That is, our wage deficit is about 80%,” said Feshchenko.
According to him, the Institute’s clinic has 530 beds. And today they are treating 175 patients with active and non-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis.
“We also have 70 children with tuberculosis and 40 patients in the surgical department - these are the most severe. That is, 280 patients with active tuberculosis, and this group is socially protected in our country, since the state guarantees free treatment. And children - 70 patients - are actually twice protected. We can't give them pills and not feed them. And our patients are the most seriously ill from all regions of Ukraine. These are patients who could not be diagnosed locally, or with treatment problems,” he said.
According to the academician, due to underfunding, staff are also leaving, and it is very difficult to gather people who want to work with various forms of tuberculosis.
The anti-tuberculosis department of the Institute has scientific developments, namely “short-term” courses of treatment, which are being implemented and provide almost 100% effectiveness in treating chemo-resistant tuberculosis. At the same time, in the world, the best indicators that WHO focuses on are 85%. Over the past 7 years, the Institute of Tuberculosis has not had efficiency indicators below 82-84%.
“We stopped hospitalization of patients on January 1. We will find pills, but nutrition, not to mention a complete, balanced diet, and this is one of the elements of complex therapy for patients with tuberculosis, - no. And if a patient takes 4-5 medications and is not fed, this is generally abnormal. On January 1, we were given temporary estimates for the first quarter, for the month of January,” the doctor noted.
According to the head of the Institute, he also does not know how he will pay salaries to the employees of the institution.
He added that the Institute has already sent a letter to Prime Minister Vladimir Groysman about this situation, and has also addressed deputies.
“We wrote the prime minister and even used such an expression that, if we take the example of our Institute both in profile and in the situation, then this is a humanitarian catastrophe: several hundred unhealthy people found themselves in such a situation, because according to all world and Ukrainian laws, patients with tuberculosis , especially if they are in a hospital, are provided with free food, free treatment, and not to mention the problem of utility bills. The institute is practically on the verge of extinction, and we, a research institution of this type, are the only one in all of Ukraine. By the way, in such a situation, not only our Institute, all institutes,” he said.
In addition, according to the doctor, it is impossible for patients to feed themselves, because this is a violation of their sanitary laws.
“We don’t have any mild patients, all of them are severe. That is, these are patients who could not receive quality care locally - in the region, district, city, they are sent to us with problems of diagnosis and treatment. This is the most important contingent,” he concluded.
Let us recall that earlier a critical situation with funding arose at the National Institute of Surgery and Transplantology named after. A.A. Shalimova. There are not enough funds there to pay wages and pay for energy.
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