Recommend additional drugs to support cancer patients

The workshop summarizing 5 years of implementation and proposing policy development on drug support for cancer patients was held by the Ministry of Health this afternoon, November 8, in Hanoi.

According to the Department of Health Insurance (Ministry of Health), over the past 5 years, 18 programs to support partially free medicine for cancer patients have been implemented according to the provisions of Circular 31/2018/TT-BYT (applicable from 2019 to the end of August 2023). The total value of the supported medicine is 1,600 billion VND with 6,051 cancer patients participating. On average, each patient received 264 million VND in support.

Kiến nghị thêm các thuốc hỗ trợ người bệnh ung thư - Ảnh 1. — More than 6,000 cancer patients have received support from programs that provide partially free medication for treatment.

Of these, 15 programs are ongoing, 3 have ended, and 6 programs are reviewing applications.

The two programs with the largest value are the Keytruda drug support program with 734.6 billion VND (accounting for 46%); the Tagrisso (osimertinib) drug support program for patients with non-small cell lung cancer with a value of 625.9 billion VND (accounting for 39%). This is also the program with the longest implementation period, over 9 years (April 2020 - June 2029).

The program with the most participants was the Keytruda (pembrolizumab) drug support program for cancer patients with 2,450 patients and the Tagrisso (osimertinib) drug support program for non-small cell lung cancer patients with 1,612 patients. The program with the fewest participants (6 patients) was the Hemlibra (emicizumab) drug support program that was partially free for Hemophilia A patients.

According to the assessment of the representative of the Health Insurance Department, the drug support programs are truly humane, helping patients reduce treatment costs and economic burdens, especially for patients with serious diseases (cancer) with very high treatment costs, while most of these drugs are newly invented drugs, not yet covered by the health insurance fund.

Therefore, these drug support programs have received much attention and support from hospitals, doctors, as well as acceptance from patients and their families. Patients cooperate and comply with the program's regulations, thereby better complying with the treatment regimen.

In addition to the positive aspects, the actual implementation of Circular No. 31/2018/TT-BYT also revealed a number of problems and shortcomings that need to be adjusted and amended to suit the actual situation, such as regulations on the scope of application of partial drug support, regulations on documents and procedures for program approval, regulations on proposing changes to program content during program implementation, etc.

The Ministry of Health is considering and seeking opinions to issue a new circular, with more favorable regulations for implementation, providing more opportunities for patients.

Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan

Proposal to reduce procedures

At the workshop, the implementing units proposed to discuss and give opinions on the contents of the proposed amendments and supplements stipulated in the draft circular with the hope that, when promulgated and implemented, drug support for patients will be most convenient, better responding to the practical requirements of life, especially for patients with serious illnesses.

Kiến nghị thêm các thuốc hỗ trợ người bệnh ung thư - Ảnh 3. — Proposal to expand support drugs for cancer patients to increase access to drugs and reduce treatment costs for patients

Some opinions suggested that medical examination and treatment facilities should be decentralized to discuss and reach agreement with pharmaceutical businesses and sign cooperation contracts to implement the program without needing approval from the Ministry of Health. This would help simplify administrative procedures and shorten the time it takes for patients to access supportive drugs.

The Ministry of Health should only prescribe the basic contents of the drug support program and guide the processes and procedures for hospitals and pharmaceutical businesses to implement on their own.

In addition, for partially free drug support programs, it is also necessary to research and expand to drugs that have expired their exclusive protection, biological drugs, or even to generic drugs to increase drug accessibility and reduce treatment costs for patients.

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