"We discussed this today at a meeting with Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová and Nikos Papandreou, members of the European Parliament's Committee on Public Health (SANT)," said Mykhailo Radutskyi, Chairman of the Committee on Public Health, Medical Care and Health Insurance.
"Our country was represented by me as the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Health, Committee member Olga Stefanyshyna and Deputy Minister of Health Maryna Slobodnichenko.
In April, the SANT delegation, including Veronica and Nikos, visited Kyiv. At that time, we held a working meeting in the Committee to discuss the adoption of the Critical Medicines Act, the development of European integration laws, reform of the public health system and the provision of mental health services.
Today, we continued the dialogue on the Critical Medicines Act, which was launched during the previous meeting in Ukraine. The Act is expected to be adopted this year. We discussed with the parliamentarians the consideration of Ukraine's interests in the preparation of this document. Given that the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in Ukraine is an important vector of economic development, this should be reflected in EU policy. Even in times of war, the domestic pharmaceutical industry remains one of the largest taxpayers. Ukrainian producers have the potential to provide medicines not only to their own patients but also to EU countries.
Therefore, Ukraine can become a strategic partner in meeting Europe's critical needs for medicines.
We have planned to hold a joint conference in the near future to discuss Ukraine's role in the implementation of the Critical Medicines Act, the capacity to produce raw materials and form strategic partnerships to overcome the shortage of medicines in the EU.
Our colleagues from the European Parliament also praised Ukraine's efforts to establish a new state control body in the pharmaceutical industry and the launch of the European Commission's Twinning project. Let me remind you that according to the law of our Committee on Medicines, such an organisation should start operating on 1 January 2027," said Mykhailo Radutskyi.