Cancer is a disease that shakes us in every way. Both materially and spiritually. Unfortunately, the incidence of cancer in the world is on the rise, and not every action leads to this decline, unless the people themselves adopt a new lifestyle. Cancer is a really costly disease; Because only with these costs, the disease survives and suffers less. In the following, we will discuss more about the cost of cancer. Stay with us.
Many people around the world die every day from cancer. Although no definitive cure has yet been discovered for this disease, its treatment is divided into three main parts, which include “medication”, “surgery” and “radiation therapy” or chemotherapy. The high costs of chemotherapy treatment and also the high price of drugs needed by these patients have increased the annual costs of treatment of this disease in the country to 3 thousand billion tomans. Meanwhile, a representative of the Ministry of Health in the Vice President for Science recently said: one third of cancer patients die due to chemotherapy.
The cost of 3 thousand billion tomans for cancer patients in the country
According to statistics released by the World Health Organization, 11 percent of cancers are cured by chemotherapy, more than 40 percent by surgery, and 40 percent by radiotherapy. Ahmad Ameri had said in November 1994: “Despite the 40% share of radiotherapy in the treatment of cancer, the cost of providing cancer drugs in our country is 15 to 20 times higher than the cost of radiotherapy equipment.”
Last week, a representative of the Ministry of Health in the Vice President for Science told Fars: “According to international statistics, 3,000 billion tomans are spent every year on chemotherapy in the country, and one third of patients die of cancer due to chemotherapy before dying. “And another third die because the drug has no effect on the healing process of the cancer.”
Death depends on the type of cancer
Dr. Siamak Afazli, a pharmacist, says of the 3,000 billion costs of cancer treatment in the country: “It is a set of pharmaceutical and treatment services that are paid for cancer patients throughout the year.”
Afazli in response to the question of whether a third of cancer patients die as a result of chemotherapy treatment? “You have to keep in mind that cancer treatment is not a successful treatment, so the statistics can not be relied on. There is no definitive cure for this disease, and the treatment process does not definitively cure the patient; The goal of cancer treatment is to increase the patient’s life expectancy, which can be extended depending on the time of diagnosis, whether it is benign or malignant. “As a result, to say that a third of people die from chemotherapy may be true, but it depends on how fast the disease progresses and the type of cancer.”
The position of insurance companies and hospitals in supporting cancer patients
One of the problems of special patients in the country, which also includes cancer patients, is the provision and costs related to medicines. The cost of treating each cancer patient in the country is several hundred million. “Atefeh,” who lost her mother to bowel cancer, told Ebtekar about the cost of treatment: “We spent a total of about 150 million tomans on my mother’s chemotherapy, but my mother died after eight sessions. In a private hospital, they receive 1 million tomans per night. “For each session of treatment, which was performed once every two weeks for three days and nights, we spent about 8 to 12 million tomans.”
Statistics that show emotion are only related to one type of cancer, according to doctors, the costs of treating cancer patients can not be calculated at all because the type of disease is different and the type of medicine and patient care will be different. Unlike hospitals According to Rasoul Dinarvand, with the implementation of the “Government Support Plan for the cost of chemotherapy for cancer patients”, the chemotherapy drugs needed by cancer patients will be provided and provided to patients in the public hospital, and patients will no longer need to prepare drugs. To wander.
Although many patients, both in the cancer ward and in other departments, are not satisfied with the services provided by public hospitals, the high cost of cancer treatment attracts many people to public hospitals. If one chooses private hospitals for treatment, there will be high costs. Now, what is the place of insurance in the treatment of cancer patients?
While insurers say that 100% of cancer patients are covered, Taheri, a general practitioner, said in an interview with Ebtekar about the insurance performance in relation to the costs of medicines for cancer patients: “Basic insurances usually pay 70% of the cost of medicines. . “Now, if a patient has supplementary insurance, 65% of the remaining amount that the basic insurances have not paid will be paid by the supplementary insurance.”
He says: In general, for almost every 100 million tomans that the patient spends, the insurers cover from 10 to 20 million.
However, this insurance premium is mostly related to drugs, and for example, for a cancer patient sample, the insurance premium is less than 20%. It is worth mentioning that a sample of a cancer patient costs about 5 million Tomans.
Are Cancer Medications Useful?
The fact that cancer has no definitive cure has been accepted by the public and doctors. However, when a person gets cancer, his or her family and friends want to increase his or her life expectancy. Chemotherapy as a solution that can increase the patient’s life expectancy if at the right time, depending on whether it is benign or malignant, the rate of disease progression, the type of cancer, and so on. There is no set time for this lifespan from one day to several years! “The reality is that pharmaceutical companies charge high prices for low-cost drugs in order to cover production costs,” said Dr. Siamak Afazli, a drug manufacturer. “Consider a drug like acetaminophen that has a high consumption, so the number in production and consequently consumption will reduce costs, but marginal cancer drugs are not very profitable.”
According to Afazli, the price of cancer drugs is announced by the Ministry of Health, and pharmaceutical companies make pricing based on that.
It is important that the patient stays alive longer
“Pain management is also an important part of treating patients,” he said, noting that there are different types of cancer and that the treatment for each is complex. It is not right at all for us to pay more attention to pain and neglect treatment. Suppose one of our loved ones gets cancer and it is very important for us to survive longer. Now, if we say that treatment has no economic justification, it is a separate issue. I think it is more important to keep a patient alive and alive. “Because, according to the patient’s companions, one day is one day.”
15% growth rate of anti-cancer drugs in the country
“Prevention is always more important than cure,” Afazli said, noting that we must seek prevention in the field of cancer. We are facing the issue of cancer prevalence in the country, in contrast to which the use of anti-cancer drugs has increased by 15%. Treatment costs have increased about 7 times from the mid-1980s to 2013. Consumption of fried or grilled foods with a lot of spices and salt, as well as alcohol and smoking are important causes of gastric cancer, so the use of chemotherapy drugs such as “fluorouracil” and “capsitabine” are high.
Low consumption of plant-based foods and fiber are important causes of colon and colon cancer, and consumption of hot tea and unhealthy hot foods are among the causes of esophageal cancer. Breast cancer is very common among women. have given.”
Pointing out that the prevalence of cancer in Iran is a function of the country’s geography, he says: “In many parts of Iran, skin cancer is more prevalent, followed by gastrointestinal and bladder cancers.” Considering the 15% growth in the use of anti-cancer drugs in the country, it can be said that no matter how much is provided in the treatment of this disease in chemotherapy, surgery and… services, however, the discussion on prevention cannot be ignored. Water pollution, chemical agents in nature, polluted air in industrial cities, air waves and many more are increasing the number of cancer patients every day, which greatly undermines the efforts of doctors and researchers in the fight against cancer. Slowly
Source: Health News
