Today almost half of drugs used to treat all types of cancer are taken at home. That can offer patients convenience and freedom from travel, but most importantly it offers patients effective ways to treat their cancer. Most cancer patients today will require a take-home cancer drug, either on its own or in combination with an intravenous treatment. For melanoma, several oral (take-home) cancer drugs are already essential components of evidence-based treatment, and the pipeline of new treatments includes seven more take-home cancer drugs.
However, despite these advances in treating cancers, patients in Ontario and Atlantic Canada face systems that out-of-date and riddled with administrative hurdles, out-of-pocket costs and delays for cancer treatments taken at home. In contrast, patients requiring an intravenous (only) treatment can start that medication as soon as needed and don’t face any financial or administrative burdens, provided the drug is included on the provincial formulary.
“Numerous reports, roundtables, meetings, and most recently the Ontario Auditor General’s Annual Report have all called for system change. Cancer patients cannot wait any longer,” says Deb Maskens, kidney cancer patient and co-founder of the CanCertainty Coalition, the united voice of 35 Canadian cancer organizations. “In advance of the provincial election in June, it’s our hope that all parties will make cancer treatment a priority and make this commitment to Ontarians.”
To date, two of the three major political parties in Ontario have made commitments to addressing the issues of inequities in the way in-hospital and at-home cancer medications are treated. The Ontario PCs included the funding for take-home cancer medications in their platform released in November 2017. In April 2017, the Ontario NDP made a commitment to improving access to take-home cancer medications in their Vision for Ontario.
Canada’s Western provinces all treat take-home cancer drugs and hospital-administered cancer drugs on an equal basis. In Quebec, provincial insurance caps out-of-pocket medication expenses at approximately $1,000 per year. Such programs are urgently needed across Canada.
In Nova Scotia, the government’s fall 2017 budget addressed the funding gap for take-home cancer medications, which will help eliminate much of the financial hardship and related stress for cancer patients in the province. Expected to be launched early in 2018, the program aims to ensure all cancer patients in Nova Scotia will get their prescribed take-home cancer medications without financial hardship.
“I’m optimistic that change is coming for cancer patients, but there is still more work to be done, in Ontario and across the Atlantic provinces,” says Maskens. “As a coalition of patient groups, we are working to ensure that high-quality cancer treatments are available for all patients, regardless of age, income or postal code.” Please visit our website, www.cancertainty.ca, for more information on how you can make your voice count.
The CanCertainty Coalition is the united voice of 35 Canadian patient groups, cancer health charities, and caregiver organizations from across the country, joining together with oncologists and cancer care
professionals to significantly improve the affordability and accessibility of cancer treatment. Learn more and get involved at www.CanCertaianty.ca or www.facebook.com/cancertainty.
The Melanoma Network of Canada has been a member of the CanCertainty Coalition since its inception in 2014.
