PM presents details of new Medical Fund

A new Medical Fund to be launched by the Polish government is composed of four pillars, the prime minister explained on Wednesday, with sub-funds for modernisation of healthcare facilities, development of preventive medicine, strategic infrastructure and a therapeutic and innovation sub-fund.

Mateusz Morawiecki presented the details during a meeting at the Presidential Palace attended by President Andrzej Duda, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski and experts from a range of medical fields.

Morawiecki said the first pillar of the new fund is dedicated to the modernisation of healthcare facilities. "One of its main aims is more effective healthcare for senior citizens," he said.

"The second pillar is a sub-fund for the development of preventive medicine," Morawicki continued. "A further pillar is a sub-fund for strategic infrastructure, which is intended to serve the development of medicines, medical development in very many fields." The fourth pillar is a sub-fund for therapeutic innovation.

"We want our health service to not only make use of the benefits of medicines from all over the world, but also for us to be not merely a recipient but also a donor of the most modern medical solutions," he said.

He added that in order for people to rely ever more on the health service, the government was primarily developing its financing, which he said was being strengthened through the government's hallmark Polish New Deal programme.

Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said the new fund would ensure comprehensive support for the healthcare system.

"I'm very glad we have an instrument in the form of the Medical Fund, because it really will help us to solve problems in a comprehensive way and ensure support for the healthcare system," he said.

The health minister went on to explain that some money from the Medical Fund would be "earmarked for modern medical technology related to rare diseases."

"We have already compiled a list of such innovative medicines that are dedicated to rare diseases and of course we have already entered the negotiation process with providers," he said, adding that the treatments had been positively assessed by the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariff System.

President Andrzej Duda said that soon almost PLN 2 billion (EUR 430 million) from the Medical Fund would go towards a programme to modernise and develop hospitals and paediatric wards.

Duda described the Medical Fund as "a new institution introduced to the Polish legal and healthcare system to increase its effectiveness, but also in a range of aspects its flexibility... especially in developing treatments for cancer and rare diseases, primarily in children."

The president added that the fund's creation was a response to calls from society for resources "aimed at supporting the possibility of operational treatment of Polish children beyond the country's borders, especially in situations when various medical procedures are not conducted here."