Beyond Medicines in Ukraine

Improve access and affordability to diagnostic procedures for patients with relapsed and refractory Hodgkin’s lymphoma in Ukraine.

The CD30 and PET-CT scans needed for diagnosis of lymphoma are unaffordable for some patients in Ukraine.

The objectives of the program are to:

• Improve access to diagnostic procedures for relapsed and refractory Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients
• Support the ongoing professional development of pathologists and clinicians who diagnose and treat lymphoma

The program covers the costs for PET-CT scans, an expensive diagnostic procedure that is not covered by the government or health insurance. It also covers the costs of immuno-histochemistry which is a valuable clinical tool for assessing CD30+ patients who may respond to treatments such as Adcetris® that target the CD30 protein. In addition, the program also provides professional development of pathologists, through our partner, National Cancer Institute of Ukraine:

• Seminars to discuss difficult diagnostic cases, which in turn strengthen inks between pathologists and clinicians
• Provision of web-based resources for pathologists
• Hodgkin’s lymphoma tutorials for clinicians in the major cities of Ukraine

Since the launch of the program (September 2016) approximately 200 PET-CT scan tests and 300 CD30+ tests have been subsidized. Through this initiative approximately 100 pathologists have been trained and more than 200 nurses trained with six nursing programs delivered in major cities across the Ukraine.