No Cancer Drugs for Bulgarian Kids

I became recently aware of a really worrying problem: it appears that the Bulgarian National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) has stopped the delivery of some drugs against cancer for children under 18 years.

Let me repeat: we don’t deliver some drugs to the Bulgarian kids that have some forms of cancer. The reason for this situation is that at least two drugs (L-asparaginase and Purinethol) were not included in the positive drugs list of the NHIF for 2009 and 2010. The parents of affected children say that the drugs are essential in their kids’ overall therapy. Some of the parents are able to shop the drugs abroad, mainly from Greece and the UK.

A very simple question arises: what sort of a European Union Member State is Bulgaria, really??? How is it possible to leave the children without proper medication supply? Who will take the responsibility if the health of these children deteriorates further because of erratic treatment?

A lot can be said about the incapacity of the Bulgarian public administration to secure the rights of Bulgarian citizens. But can we try a little harder AT LEAST for the kids???