Improving affordability of new Essential Cancer Medicines

Hoen, Ellen ‘t; Meyer, Salomé; Durisch, Patrick; Bannenberg, Wilbert; Perehudoff, Katrina; Reed, Tim; Barber, Melissa

doi:10.1016/s1470-2045(19)30459-0

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…This condition is also observed in other countries, where access to novel cancer treatments is uneven [26,32]. Lack of cost-effectiveness has been identified as one of the primary reasons for the rejection of anti-cancer drugs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…This condition is also observed in other countries, where access to novel cancer treatments is uneven. 26,32 Lack of cost-effectiveness has been identified as one of the primary reasons for the rejection of anticancer drugs. A study in Europe about access to essential anticancer medicines also mentioned that financial instability is a barrier to access to novel expensive drugs for developing countries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Anticancer medicines in Pakistan: An analysis of essential medicines lists

Shukar

Anjum

Zhang

et al. 2023

J Oncol Pharm Pract

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Objective The lack of anticancer drugs for curative and supportive purposes is the critical reason for the low survival rate in low-and-middle-income countries. This study aims to analyze whether the National Essential Medicines List (NEML) and Registered Essential Medicines List (REML) are in concordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) Essential Medicines List (EML) and whether the formularies prevalent in the country are parallel to each other and to the NEML. Method An observational study design was used in which antineoplastic drugs from the 2021 NEML and REML were compared with 2021 WHO EML to evaluate their availability in Pakistan. Market access was determined. Moreover, the formularies of six different hospital types were compared with each other and with the NEML, and REML to estimate the availability within hospitals. Results There were 66 anticancer drugs in 2021 WHO EML and all were found in Pakistan's 2021 NEML but only 48 drugs (73%) were found in the REML. Hydroxycarbamide and dasatinib were two registered drugs absent in all hospitals’ formularies. The market access for anticancer medicines was 73% (48 of 66). Semigovernment hospital (86%) has the highest availability, followed by the government hospital (80%). All the hospitals have unregistered drugs including bortezomib, lenalidomide, and mesna. Conclusion Pakistan's NEML adopts WHO EML abruptly but all medicines are not registered. The hospitals are trying their best to increase availability but optimum drug regulations to revise NEML based on the country's requirements and emphasizing registration of anticancer medicines are needed to improve the country's availability of antineoplastic agents.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anticancer medicines in Pakistan: An analysis of essential medicines lists

Shukar

Anjum

Zhang

et al. 2023

J Oncol Pharm Pract

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“…22 Regarding cancer care, African health professionals' and community health care workers' workloads are already higher compared with other regions. 23 Insufficient infrastructure, HPV vaccine shortages, 24 and scarcity of essential cancer medicines 25 reflect the myriad of challenges to the delivery of cervical cancer prevention and control in this region. Similarly challenging situations exists in most LMICs in all world regions that have underfunded and fragmented health care systems.…”

Section: Sidebar Who Draft Strategy For the Elimination Of Cervical C...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly challenging situations exists in most LMICs in all world regions that have underfunded and fragmented health care systems. 24 Within these countries, differences in access to health care between regions and social classes are even more severe, and so are the health outcomes, especially for patients with cancer in general and women in particular. 15 A lack of systemic changes addressing the challenges present in these different settings can exacerbate the existing inequity in the access and allocation of resources for cancer care.…”

Section: Sidebar Who Draft Strategy For the Elimination Of Cervical C...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Making the Best Use of Resources in Global Cancer Care

Gago

Pendharkar

Tripathi³

et al. 2020

American Society of Clinical Oncology Educational Book

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Inequitable access to high-quality cancer control and care remains one of the greatest public health challenges in countries at all resource levels. Core issues include the limited oncology health care workforce and equitable access to affordable (essential) cancer diagnostics, medicines, surgery, systemic therapies, and radiotherapy, compounded by existing social inequalities. To reduce cancer health disparities globally and subnationally, countries can enhance their capabilities to deliver high-quality, affordable care closer to where most people live. Decentralization and integration of health services can be part of the solution, offloading the strained capacity of tertiary facilities where possible and expanding cadres of trained providers to support some aspects of cancer prevention and control that require a lesser degree of specialization. The strategy to eliminate cervical cancer provides a salient example of a data-driven effort that optimizes resources to dramatically reduce one of the greatest cancer health disparities globally. Here, we highlight two responses to meet the challenge through greater engagement of the primary care workforce and by adoption of universal health care coverage to ensure access to cancer prevention.

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“…Budget constraints exist in all settings meaning that choices need to be made, thus priority-setting is inevitable and requires evidence-based, transparent processes based on national values and priorities, reflecting the concerns of the public and community at large [18]. This is particularly true for high-priced cancer medicines [19]. The essence of UHC is that out-of-pocket payments are not so high as to deter people from using services and causing financial hardship [20].…”

Section: Priority Setting and Access To Medicines For Uhcmentioning

confidence: 99%

Noncommunicable diseases, access to essential medicines and universal health coverage

Beran

Pedersen

Robertson

2019

Global Health Action

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Universal Health Coverage is key to reach the overall health-related Sustainable Development Goal, and within this, access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable essential medicines is critical. Currently, medicines for noncommunicable diseases in many countries are not available when needed and if they are present, are unaffordable. Countries face the challenges of rising prevalence of noncommunicable diseases due to increasing risk factors and ageing populations, along with under-diagnosis and under-treatment. Providing noncommunicable disease medicines is only one piece of a complex picture of providing care within Universal Health Coverage that requires strengthening health-care systems, as well as financial resources, priority setting, and monitoring and evaluation systems. Financing for Universal Health Coverage needs to enable adequate resources to be allocated for medicines with a focus on equity as well as priority setting for noncommunicable diseases medicines for reimbursement in benefits packages, efficient procurement and distribution of these medicines, supported by price regulation. These processes need to be evidence-based, transparent and grounded on national values and priorities. Monitoring and evaluation of availability and affordability are key components of sustainable reimbursement systems. With the current Universal Health Coverage agenda, the World Health Organization and countries can no longer ignore the issue of access to medicines for noncommunicable disease and need to develop the appropriate responses in order to guarantee equitable access.

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Improving affordability of new Essential Cancer Medicines

Cited by 6 publications

References 5 publications

Anticancer medicines in Pakistan: An analysis of essential medicines lists

Anticancer medicines in Pakistan: An analysis of essential medicines lists

Making the Best Use of Resources in Global Cancer Care

Noncommunicable diseases, access to essential medicines and universal health coverage

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