Health Ministry developing strategy for rare diseases’ treatment

Health Minister Maksym Stepanov stated this at a briefing on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"A national strategy for providing medical care to people with orphan diseases had to be adopted in 2014. This strategy was neither developed nor adopted. We have begun to develop this strategy. We have defined the main criteria it should include," Stepanov said.

According to him, the Health Ministry intends to create a register of citizens with rare diseases, provide access to prevention and diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of patients with orphan diseases, as well as develop regulations to bring the legislation in line with the needs for providing care to patients.

"These are clinical treatment protocols, these are clinical guidelines. This is all that must be mandatory in any civilized state," Stepanov said.

The ministry plans to represent the strategy to the government in late June, Stepanov added.

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