Equitable Access
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Why do we fight for equitable access to cancer care in South Africa?
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WHAT’S ON THE TABLE
National Policies
The South African National Cancer Policies
The National Department of Health (NDOH) has put much effort into producing a series of national policy and framework documents which have direct relevance to cancer patients in South Africa. These include the following:
- The National Cancer Strategic Framework for South Africa – 2017-2022
- The National Cancer Strategic Framework and Strategy on Palliative Care – 2017 – 2022
- The The Breast Cancer Control Policy 2017
- The Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control Policy
- Policies for Childhood Cancer and Prostate Cancer are on the horizon for 2018-2019
- Further policies are envisaged for the future, to complement the National Cancer Strategic Framework for South Africa.
SO NEAR, YET SO FAR
Access to Medicines Report
Medicines are critical to the fight against cancer. Having access to the right medicine at the right time can literally make the difference between life and death.
Availability + Affordability = Access
The Access to Cancer Medicine Report focuses on these two key determinants of access in the public and private sector. Findings related to access include the fact that just 10 hospitals in South Afriica provide cancer care for 84% of the population. The medicines available for treatment are regulated by the Essential Medicines List, based on the model list suggested by WHO and based on affordability. The private sector serves 16% of the population who belong to nearly 75 different medical schemes.
These schemes, ruled by the Council of Medical Schemes have the ability to approve the latest cancer treatments available, even when they may be too expensive for most patients to afford. The oncology pharmaceutical industry represents only 1% of the market – yet seven of the most expensive speciality medicines are for oncology. The report further investigates the impact of patent law and use of competition law to ensure access to medicine.
With cancer incidence set to increase exponentially in the next 10 years, now is the time to re-enigineer cancer care services within the proposed NHI. Recommendations for key role players such as SAHPRA, key government departments and Industry are offered to kick-start this debate.