There are still children in Estonia for whom the Health Insurance Fund of Estonia does not cover essential medicines or care products, either by not providing any funding or by not providing sufficient funding considering the economic situation of the families. As a result of medical advances, new treatments are constantly being discovered for illnesses that were previously incurable, but at the moment the Health Insurance Fund does not cover the treatment of rare diseases in most cases. This means that often there is a medicine that is science-based, effective and significantly improves the quality of life for the child, but this medicine is not accessible for the family due to its extremely high price, especially in cases where the medicine must be used continuously during many years, often until adulthood or even longer. These new and expensive treatments are therefore inaccessible for Estonian children, especially children affected by rare diseases.
This is where the Children’s Foundation steps in with the help of its kind donors. For example, we are helping five children diagnosed with achondroplasia (Lara, Tessa, Sander-Lucas, Kateryna and Loviise) who need a very expensive medicine – the treatment for one child costs over 200 000 euros per year. We are also supporting 2-year-old Kevin-Sander who has been diagnosed with an extremely rare condition and children who have been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis: Nora-Liisa, Aleksandr, Maarek, Katre, Kaia, Ksenia and Maria.
In total, the Children’s Foundation is currently supporting 20 children with buying medicines: Egert, Lizette, Meribel, Sergei, Lara, Tessa, Sander-Lucas, Armin, Kevin-Sander, Nora-Liisa, Kateryna, Kevin, Loviise, Aleksandr, Greteliis, Maarek, Katre, Kaia, Ksenia and Maria.