Delivering better cancer services and treatments
22.06.16
- Survival rates have increased across all European countries, with average 5-year survival increasing to 54%
- Although cancer incidence continues to rise across Europe – up by about 30% in 2012 compared with 1995 – mortality has increased by only 11%, indicating improvements in therapy
- Despite an increasing number of people being diagnosed with cancer, spending on cancer care has remained broadly stable (at just over 6% of health expenditure).
There is also good news for European economies and healthcare systems, as better treatment allows people to return to work, and play an active role in society, while fewer treatment side effects have contributed to a shift from inpatient to ambulatory and home care, helping to stabilise healthcare costs.
There are nevertheless a number of challenges the report mentions that must be addressed.
Set to become the biggest cause of death and disability in Europe, cancer is a disease that is complex, meaning that clinicians need access to as many treatment options as possible so they can tailor treatment to best meet the individual needs of their patients. Furthermore, the report notes that access is not equal across Europe, with patients in some countries facing long delays before benefitting from new cancer medicines.
Nils Wilking, Senior Strategic Adviser Southern Healthcare Region, Sweden, one of the report’s author’s said: “One of the problems we have highlighted when compiling the report is that patient access to new cancer medicines is unequal across Europe, even between countries with comparable GDPs.”
It is important that all relevant stakeholders, from policy makers to industry, work together to find jointly-agreed and commonly-beneficial solutions to ensure that the policy environment is adapting to maximise the benefits and minimise the concerns associated with these new oncology treatments.
Richard Bergström, Director General of EFPIA, said: “New cancer medicines represent an opportunity for health care systems to improve survival, quality of life and quality of care for patients with cancer. However, industry acknowledges that there are challenges that need to be addressed and new approaches are required urgently to ensure that patients across Europe benefit from advances in cancer care. EFPIA is committed to working with stakeholders across Europe to achieve this.”
As part of its commitment to supporting improvements in cancer care, 15 of EFPIA’s member companies are today launching a pan-European conversation with policymakers, patient groups and clinicians at a high-level roundtable in Brussels. The meeting will be the first of a series of conversations around Europe, with the aim of stimulating new thinking on how best to realise the opportunity to improve cancer care, which the latest wave of pharmaceutical innovation presents.
Notes to editors
- The study was funded by an unrestricted grant from 5 of EFPIA’s member companies: AstraZeneca; J&J; MSD; Novartis; and Roche. However, neither the industry association nor any of its members have had any influence over its questions, methods, analysis or drafting.
- The link to the the full IHE report is www.ihe.se/access-to-cancer-medicines-in-europe.aspx
- 15 of EFPIA’s member companies have funded a collaborative project to host a series of roundtable discussions with the objective of proactively discussing the future of cancer care in Europe. The discussions will start with a European roundtable, followed by 10 national roundtables, over the course of 2016. This project has been supported by the following members; Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Ipsen, Janssen, Lilly, Merck, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and Servier.