A government decree has removed discounts on medications for seriously ill patients, raising alarms from a veteran's family.

The resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which establishes new rules for the pharmaceutical market, has blocked the operation of the charitable program "Key of Hope," under which patients could purchase expensive medications at a reduced price. As a result, military serviceman Pavel Kiryenko, who is battling cancer, will now be forced to pay nearly three times more for his treatment.

His wife, Anna Kiryenko, reported this news.

"You might laugh, but the Cabinet has adopted a resolution to regulate drug prices, and now the medications for Pavel Kiryenko, which we were buying through the 'Key of Hope' charitable program at half price, will be sold at full price. So the course of Keytruda, which needs to be repeated every 21 days, will now cost not 81 thousand UAH," she noted. She later added that according to updated information, the course will now require payment of not just 160 thousand UAH, but 230 thousand UAH.

According to her, this situation has been a shock for their family, as they had already collected the necessary amount for a year of treatment thanks to charitable donations, but due to the new rules, they will need almost three times more funds.

"It feels like this is just some kind of mockery from fate and the state. So you survived at the front? — Here’s cancer for you. Still fighting? — We cancel the ability to receive expensive medications for free. It doesn’t matter that you are a veteran who fought for our country. Aaaa, thanks to the help of people, you gathered enough funds to cover a year of treatment? — Here’s a resolution for you, now you need twice as much money," she added.

The family still hopes that the government will amend the resolution and that the charitable program will be able to function again. However, according to her, "the chairman is overwhelmed by this surrealism."

It should be noted that the Cabinet's resolution on drug price regulation includes a number of restrictions, which has already sparked a wave of criticism from patients and doctors. Patient organizations are concerned that the innovations could lead to the disappearance of certain medications from the market and complicate their accessibility for seriously ill patients.