Cancer treatment can be made cheaper

Sun: PETALING JAYA: The cost of cancer treatment can be reduced by having a Cancer Treatment Guideline.
National Cancer Society executive director Dr Saunthari Somasundaram says the guideline can be drawn up based on consensus among medical practitioners in both the private and public sectors on which drugs are acceptable for the basic minimum care of cancer patients.
This is because there are hundreds of drugs out there and people tend to believe that the more expensive and the newest is the most effective.
"But this is not so. There are drugs which have been around for a long time which work really well. A lot of new drugs do the same but probably with less side effects.
"We must identify the drugs which give good chances of survival and make these drugs cheaper.
"Once there is a consensus on the type of drugs that is able to provide essential basic treatment for cancer, we can approach pharmaceutical companies on how to make these drugs more affordable," she said.
She was responding to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi recent pledge to make cancer treatment more affordable following his wife's death from cancer.
A consensus will also help bridge the gap between the basic care offered at private hospitals and government hospitals.
"New drugs are coming out constantly. Some doctors in the public sector may want to prescribe a drug which is not on the public hospitals' pharmaceutical list. This means the patient will have to partly pay for the drug or buy it somewhere else," she added.
According to Saunthari, the cost of treatment can range between a few hundred ringgit to few thousand a month depending on the type and stage of cancer.
The later the treatment, the higher the cost.
Hence, the society hopes a National Cancer Plan, which looks at cancer education, prevention and treatment as a whole and in the long term, can be implemented. It is estimated 40,000 Malaysian develop cancer every year.
Malaysian Oncological Society president Dr Harcharan Singh Khera said essential cancer treatment in Malaysia is generally affordable.
"Radiotherapy or chemotherapy are economically priced even in the private sector. The cost of radiotherapy treatment in Malaysia is one of the lowest in the world," he said.
For instance, for low-risk breast cancer, generic drugs are available for chemotherapy and the cost in the private sector would be around RM6,000 for the six cycles needed. For nasal cancer, the total cost would come to RM5,000 to RM6,000 for seven weeks of radiotherapy five days a week.
"In general hospitals, the cost would be almost free," he said.
However, patients who are in the late stages or who have high risk of relapse may opt for drugs which are still under the patent period, which is expensive.
One cycle of chemotherapy for breast cancer may then cost as high as RM4,000 to RM6,000. Some may even go for exceptional treatment, even drugs at the experimental stage.
The costs pile up when other drugs are used to enhance the patient's quality of life by minimising the side effects of the treatment.
The government, Harcharan said, should focus on increasing resources and accelerating the National Health Financing Scheme.
"We can then loosen up funds from those who can afford treatment and channel them into a fund for the lower income group."
The country's 38 oncologists is also way below the WHO recommendation of 100 while there are only two government radiotherapy centres -- one in Kuala Lumpur and another in Kuching.