UAE expands affordable medicines project for expats

UAE expands affordable medicines project for expats

Dubai: A new deal has been signed to expand the scope of UAE’s ‘Hand in Hand’ initiative, which provides affordable medicines to uninsured and low-income expat patients. The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP), Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, and Axios, a global healthcare consulting firm, recently signed an appendix to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to widen the coverage of Hand in Hand. The initiative includes those whose insurance does not cover the cost of treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, multiple myeloma, active ulcerative colitis, and psoriatic arthritis. The initiative covers drug support plans, based on the assessment of non-Emirati patients who are uninsured or those whose medical insurance doesn’t cover the cost of the treatment. The initiative also includes sharing the cost with patients or the supporting body according to their ability to bear the costs of the treatment. The MoU was first signed in December 2018 and about 712 eligible patients benefited from it. In April 2019, an extension of the programme was signed to provide new medication to patients with the aforementioned conditions. The agreement is part of the ministry’s, Janssen’s, and Axios’s commitment to improving access to innovative drugs, especially for low-income expat