«The problem of medications delivery to Donbas is not solved yet», – Rimma Fil

As part of special "Donbas" project on NewsOne TV channel the Humanitarian Center's Coordinator told about the situation with medications and problems with their import to non-government-controlled areas.

The war seared millions of lives! The scale of the tragedy has yet to be evaluated by experts. But during the whole period of military conflict the Humanitarian Center conducted researches and opinion polls to have a better understanding of what people need the most. "Last year the main requirements of civilians living in non-government-controlled areas of Donbas were food and hygiene products.  Now they are in desperate need of medication, especially seriously ill children and elderly people", – Rimma Fil assures.

Help is needed here and now. All the state programs providing medications for children with cerebral palsy, asthma, diabetes and other serious diseases do not operate. As a result, people are risking their lives only because they cannot have insulin shot.

According to the Coordinator, the Center is ready to provide humanitarian assistance with medications. That is why we launched "Medications for Children" program. "However, we still cannot deliver insulin, anticonvulsants and anti-asthmatic medications to non-government-controlled areas of Donbas", – Rimma Fil said.

During three months, starting from August 2015, Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center has been searching the ways to solve the problem with medication delivery to non-government-controlled territory. Our letters were sent to five governmental agencies (Ministry of Social Policy, Security Service of Ukraine, General Staff of Ukrainian Armed Forces, State Service of Ukraine on Medicinal Products, Ministry of Health) to get a definite answer: do we need license for delivery, storage and distribution of humanitarian medications to non-government-controlled areas, whether the Humanitarian Center imports them or not. There is no official response from the Ministry of Health till now.

The Humanitarian Center repeatedly initiated meetings with the Deputy Minister of Health on this issue. The Center's management is meeting Oleksandra Pavlenko for the fourth time on December 2. 

"We are not losing our hope for favourable results.  One important thing should not be forgotten: all residents of government-controlled or non-government-controlled areas of Donbas have passport of a citizen of Ukraine. And it is not the matter of import or export, it is about providing people with essentials. When our state learns to hear each person's problem, then we will become a civilized country", – Rimma Fil assures.