E-DRUG: Research article: Access to essential medicines for treating childhood cancers in Delhi state, India
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Dear Colleagues
I am glad to share our latest paper "Evaluating access to essential
medicines for treating childhood cancers: a medicine availability, price
and affordability study in New Delhi, India".
This article - published in BMJ Global Health - found that "mean availability of anti-neoplastic essential medicines was 38% in private-sector retail pharmacies, 43% in
public hospital pharmacies and 71% in private hospital pharmacies".
Since patient's caregivers can avail prescribed medicines from any
pharmacy outlet in the survey anchor/hospital area (either hospital or
several retail pharmacies), we also evaluated mean availability by survey
anchor.
On average, across survey anchor areas (hospital and private-sector
retail pharmacies combined), the mean availability of anti-neoplastic EMs
and non-cancer medicines was 70% and 100%, respectively. For cancer
medicines, the availability remains below WHO's target of 80%.
The median price for all surveyed cancer was 0.71 times the MSH
international reference price. However, the estimated cost of chemotherapy
medicines needed for treating a 30 kg child with standard-risk leukaemia
was INR 27 850 (US$442) and INR 17 500 (US$278) for Hodgkin's lymphoma,
requiring 88 and 55 days' wages, respectively, for the lowest paid
government worker. In other words, medicines seem to be unaffordable in
local context.
Only a few (n = 3) of the surveyed medicines were available in the government discount-pharmacy outlets (Jan Aushadhi scheme), but these Jan Aushadhi prices were half of what a consumer will pay in private retail pharmacies. We urge the government to include more medicines in the scheme and take measures to improve popularity of these pharmacies - to help reduce out-of-pocket medicines cost.
Note that these results from New Delhi (India's capital region) represent the best-case scenario and we expect the access to be relatively poor in other Indian states - especially those with lower socioeconomic status and poor-functioning health systems.
Link to BMJ Global Heath article:
https://gh.bmj.com/content/4/2/e001379
Some Media coverage:
LiveMint:
https://www.livemint.com/science/health/indians-have-poor-access-to-essential-anti-cancer-drugs-report-1556108795781.html
The Pioneer:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/2019/india/---cancer-afflicted-kids-deprived-of-vital-drugs---.html
Down To Earth:
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/health/child-cancer-drugs-neither-available-nor-accessible-to-the-poor-in-delhi-64174
India Science Wire:
https://vigyanprasar.gov.in/isw/Study-flags-problems-in-availability-and-prices-of-anti-cancer-drugs.html
Please feel free to share the article with those who might be interested,
and we will be glad to receive your feedback/comments.
Thanks
Abhi
Abhishek Sharma, BPharm, MPH
Adjunct Researcher
Department of Global Health
Boston University School of Public Health
801 Massachusetts Ave, 3rd floor, Boston, MA, USA
abhishek sharma <abhisheksharma0991@gmail.com>