UAE: Ministry expands affordable medicine scheme for uninsured, low-income patients

UAE: Ministry expands affordable medicine scheme for uninsured, low-income patients

Hand in Hand initiative was first signed in 2018.

Published: Sat 19 Feb 2022, 6:09 PM

The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) expanded the scope of the "Hand in Hand" initiative that aims to provide affordable medicines to uninsured and low-income expat patients.

The ministry signed an appendix to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, and Axios, a global healthcare consulting firm, to ensure the affordability of medicines to low-income patients or those whose insurance companies do not cover the cost of treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, multiple myeloma, active ulcerative colitis, and psoriatic arthritis.

The initiative benefited 712 eligible patients when the MoU was first signed in December 2018. In April 2019, an extension of the program was signed to provide new medication to patients with specific health conditions.

The agreement is part of the commitment to improving access to innovative drugs, especially for low-income expat patients who can't afford the costs of their treatment.

Dr. Amin Hussein Al Amiri, Assistant Undersecretary for the Health Regulation Sector at the ministry, said, "MoHAP is committed to providing the best medicines for all low-income expat patients in the country. In this context, we launched the “Hand in Hand” initiative