The first medicine based on medical cannabis has been officially registered in Ukraine. These are oral drops of a Spanish brand. They may appear in pharmacies as early as the beginning of 2025.
Within a year after the adoption of the law on the legalisation of medical cannabis, the Ukrainian system was prepared for the legalisation of medical drugs. According to the Patients of Ukraine Foundation, the first manufacturer has registered the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), which will allow the drugs to hit the shelves of pharmacies.
In addition to oral drops, pharmacies will be able to buy hard capsules, dental pastes and gels made from cannabis, approved by the Ministry of Health in 2024. A list of conditions for which medical cannabis treatment can be prescribed has also been identified, including chronic pain, Parkinson’s disease, nausea from chemotherapy, Tourette’s syndrome, pharma-resistant epilepsy, seizures in children and anorexia from HIV.
The patient community is pushing for the inclusion of PTSD in the list of conditions to be treated with medical cannabis, although the ability to prescribe the medication for other conditions on the advice of a medical advisory board in research-based hospitals has already been achieved.
The medicine will be dispensed by electronic prescription. Pharmacies that will produce the medicine must have three licences.
Medical professionals will be trained to treat with medical cannabis through online courses with the NHS Academy.
The patient community has been fighting for over 5 years for the availability of cannabis-based medicines in Ukraine that will significantly improve quality of life. The Ministry of Health estimates that 6 million patients need such medicine.