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 and until 1 July 2024, we funded the treatment of Nora-Liisa, Aleksandr, Maarek, Katre, Kaia, Ksenia, Maria, Marie and Simon-Antonio diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. One of the most expensive treatments in the Children’s Foundation’s history, costing around €700,000 a year, will be given to 12-year-old Kevin, thanks to the support of kind donors.
In total, the Children’s Foundation is currently supporting 8 children with buying medicines: Sergei, Lara, Tessa, Sander-Lucas, Armin, Kateryna, Kevin, Loviise.