Campaign for oncology drugs for poorer countries

I've mentioned previously Inspire2Live and their call to improve access to oncology medicines. Today we launch a new campaign to improve access to essential drugs by poorer countries Below I attach the press release which includes the inspiring Barbara Moss sharing her own experiences in the UK - I was fortunate to meet her in Gloucester a couple of years ago.

Inspire2Live establishes an international initiative to provide access to essential cancer drugs for Lower Middle Income Countries (LMICs) Inspire2Live (I2L), the international patient advocacy organisation, is leading an initiative, together with five of the world’s top cancer scientists as advisers, to enable patients in poorer countries to receive essential and innovative cancer drugs that they cannot currently access. This movement is gaining the interest and help of several existing international organisations who know how to deliver this. Commonly, LMIC patients are diagnosed at a late stage of their disease when their cancer is most aggressive and with no pain relief available.

Professor Ifeoma Okoye, from Nigeria, said: “Every day, I watch patients walk into our cancer centres with more fear of the cost than of the disease. The burden of out-of-pocket expenses for chemotherapy, imaging, and pain relief crushes families and robs them of dignity. The effort by Inspire2Live to democratize access to essential oncology medicines is a necessary disruption to a broken system. We must move from global empathy to equitable action. Affordable cancer drugs are not charity—they are a human right.”

At I2L, we have the support of 30 members from LMIC countries1. We visit, meet, and witness the endless struggle of people with just a few hospitals trying to cover the needs of an entire country and no access to essential cancer medicines. I2L feels compelled to act to address this global inequality. Barbara Moss from Worcester UK, a member of I2L, reflects on her experience in 2006, diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer and given a prognosis of three months: “I was refused new treatments through the NHS because they were expensive. If my family had not
paid for the biological drug, I would certainly have died. The drug shrank my tumours sufficiently to allow surgical resection. Eighteen years on, I am so grateful to be here for my family. I want others to have the same chance that I had.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) updates its essential medicines list biennially. There are 83 essential medicines for cancer, of which 13 are patented. Cancer drugs are generally not available in Africa, but could be made available, with no huge financial loss to the pharmaceutical industry, as was done before for HIV medicines. I2L believes that countries could be allowed to manufacture generics, even though drugs are still under patent, keeping within stringent safety regulations.

Pharmaceutical companies have to cover costs of research and failures. However, after distribution is complete in high-income countries, costs for excess production could be reduced by 90% for LMICs, following a similar process as for HIV treatment. Inspire2Live has consulted with itsinternational membership and found that this can be done. Not only will patients benefit, so will industry. Firstly, they are rewarded by scoring higher on the indexes of Corporate Social Responsibility without losing revenue, as they are currently not selling drugs to LMICs. Their 1additional expense is for registration, an insignificant cost. Of real significance, they would deliver the true value of their science: to drive innovation and save lives globally.

We believe that it is inhumane to allow people to suffer and die when there is a known way of
preventing this. We can save lives.

The I2L initiative has the powerful backing of:
• Prof. Mark Lawler, Professor of Digital Health, Queen’s University Belfast.
• Prof. Richard Sullivan, Director, Institute for Cancer Policy and Co-Director, Centre for Conflict
and Health Research, King’s College London, U.K.
• Prof. Carin Uyl-de-Groot, Professor of Health Technology Assessment, Erasmus University
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
• Dr. Wilbert Bannenberg, Founder and Chair, Pharmaceutical Accountability Foundation.
• Prof. Emeritus Ifeoma J. Okoye, Nigeria, Professor of Radiology at the College of Medicine,
University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Professor Carin Uyl-de-Groot said, ‘With cancer incidence rising rapidly in low- and middle-income countries, access to lifesaving and life-expanding medicines must be a global priority. We need a system that not only drives pharmaceutical innovation but also ensures that patients everywhere—regardless of income—can benefit from it.’

Professor Mark Lawler said, ‘How can we stand by and allow people to die needlessly, when a known cure is available? Patients in LMICs have no means of accessing vital treatment. Why do we accept that 80% of the world's population have access to only 20% of its medicine? With so much funding for health being withdrawn from LMICs right now, due to the inhumane actions of the new US administration, in contrast to President George Bush’s successful PEPFAR2, it is imperative that we act now, otherwise many more lives will be lost.’

Our Call to Action stems from evidence gained directly through I2L members in LMICs. A survey conducted by I2L details medicines that are most needed in the hospitals of our members. If these medicines were available, thousands of lives could be saved. We call on governments, industry, and our collective humanity to recognise that there is a way to provide cancer treatments and pain relief to LMICs and save lives.

Peter Kapitein, founder of Inspire2Live, said, ‘We have the assistance of international organizations, global expertise and our feet firmly on the ground in so many countries in every continent. We are human. By nature, we should also be humane. Why shouldn’t we save lives?’
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Notes for Editor:
Inspire2Live (I2L) is the patient’s voice in cancer. The organisation creates more options for a life of
quality around cancer globally, faster. They connect patients, physicians, researchers, government,
insurance companies and the industry to initiate and develop projects for the benefit of the patient.
https://inspire2live.org

Reference Notes:

1. Argentina

Armenia

We have 30 LMIC country members:

Brazil

Bulgaria

Caribbean (consists of 16 countries)

Chile

Indonesia

Iran

Jordan

Kenya

Lebanon

Lithuania

Costa Rica

Croatia

Nigeria

Pakistan

Cuba

Philippines

Egypt

Gabon

Romania

Senegal

Ghana

South Africa

Guinea

Tanzania

Hungaria

India

Ukraine

Uzbekistan

2. PEPFAR President’s Emergency Plan for AIDA Relief

Among the organisations we consult:

3. The Pharmaceutical Accountability Foundation (PAF) serves the public interest by striving

to ensure that medicines and medical technologies are made available in a socially

responsible and sustainable manner. We attach a value to fair pricing and distribution in

accordance with European and international legal standards, and therefore take action to

combat unjustifiable price gouging by companies abusing market monopolies. We seek to

achieve our objectives through the provision of advice and information to governments,

stakeholders professionals and the general public. If that does not help, we achieve our

objectives through the possible legal action around excessively high priced medicines. Our

Articles of Association (in Dutch) can be found here.

Contact information for Media Enquiries:

Peter Kapitein, Founder of Inspire2Live

Email: peter.kapitein@inspire2live.org

Phone number: +31 6 52 49 60 99

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