UK below average in Europe for uptake of new cancer drugs
The UK is one of the worst countries in Europe in terms of patient access
to new cancer drugs, according to a report published by the Karolinska
Institute and the Stockholm School of Economics this week.
The report, entitled “A pan-European comparison regarding patient
access to cancer drugs”, found that patients across Europe do not
have equal access to drugs to treat breast cancer, colorectal cancer,
lung cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and for supportive care.
Austria, Spain and Switzerland were identified as the top three countries
in terms of uptake of new cancer drugs between 1999 and 2004. The UK,
the Czech Republic, Hungary, Norway and Poland were consistently identified
as below average adopters of new drugs. In addition, the UK had a slow
rate of uptake even after the drugs had been available for four years.
The report noted that nowhere else in Europe did economic evaluations
play a greater role than in the UK. The capacity of the National Institute
for Health and Clinical Excellence to cope with a growing workload is
an issue, it says, with referral times to NICE taking up to 18 months
and reviews taking 62 weeks. In addition, the report points out that
budgetary resources are not allocated to new drugs while they are being
reviewed by NICE, thus leading to further delays in making these drugs
available through the NHS.
The report highlights that the three leading countries have no formal
economic evaluation implemented and advises that evaluations should be
done expeditiously.
Herceptin
Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State
for Health, has announced that, from this week, women diagnosed
with early stage breast cancer should be tested for suitability
for trastuzumab (Herceptin) treatment. As soon as Herceptin receives
a licence for early stage breast cancer, which is not expected
before July 2006, it will be fast tracked for use throughout the
NHS, she said. |
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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