Medical oncologists, hematologists and patients defend in the campaign “Cancer doesn’t wait, you shouldn’t either”, the need to standardize the approach to this disease and avoid delays and delays in medical check-ups and tests, consultations, diagnoses and applications of therapies and treatments
The director of EFEsalud, Javier Tovar, leads and moderates the EFESalud Dialogues debate to present the campaign “Cancer doesn’t wait, you shouldn’t either”/EFE/Javier Liaño
The campaign, which is part of the “A new normality, the same cancer” project, is promoted by the Spanish Group of Cancer Patients (GEPAC), the Spanish Society of Hematology and Hemotherapy (SEHH), the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) and AstraZeneca.
On the occasion of World Cancer Day this Friday, the 4th, the heads of these four health organizations have debated and analyzed this campaign at an EFEsalud Dialogues meeting, organized by EFE in collaboration with AstraZeneca.
Participating in the debate were Begoña Barragán, president of GEPAC; Dr. Ramón García Sanz, president of the SEHH; Dr. Enriqueta Felip, president of SEOM; and the director of Corporate Affairs and Market Access of AstraZeneca, Marta Moreno.
The central message of this campaign is to make the general population aware that, despite the existence of covid and its health impact, “it is important to go to the centers when symptoms of illness are suspected, as well as not relegating regular check-ups.” ”.
During the debate, the speakers exposed the difficulties that the pandemic has generated in dealing with cancer, expressed their hope that there would be no setbacks in the survival data for this disease, and defended faster and more agile access to patients to new cancer therapies.
Two tough years for cancer patients
They have taken stock of the harshness of the two years of pandemic in the approach to cancer.
Begoña Barragán highlighted: «It has been a tremendous two years for everyone, but cancer does not wait, it has not waited, and there have been many diagnostic delays; We will see when time passes if it is going to be very late in many cases. Patients should not let the symptoms pass, they should go to check-ups and insist if they are delayed.
the president of GEPAC has considered that even before the pandemic «we were in a bad way, we cannot blame covid, delays are not something new, I do not know if it can serve as an excuse on the part of the administrations, it takes a long time to approve drugs and finance them ».
The president of the SEHH He stressed: “It has been very painful. In addition to overexertion, cancer patients have faced misunderstanding and reduced life expectancies. The reduction in diagnosis has been 21 percent in the first wave of covid. In Spain, one in five people suffered from the disease without knowing they had cancer.
Dr. García Sanz has defended: “Primary school must be reactivated because it is the gateway, screening must be reactivated, surgery cannot be postponed, and laboratories must continue to offer the same service. You must follow the progress.
This hematologist added that «despite everything that has happened, my message is optimistic; cancer is becoming a curable or chronic disease, there are more and more opportunities for improvement in all areas. We must find a way to overcome this parenthesis and return to the path of survival.
The oncologist Enriqueta Felip has also highlighted the hardship of the two years lived and has mentioned the limitation of companions in hospitals to admitted patients or the difficulty of communication, not easy, to highlight: «Many challenges await us and we will know which one is to be the psychological impact of all this.
Looking to the future, the president of SEOM has proposed “work intensely as a team, continue investigating and preventing, guarantee early treatment and advance in measuring equity of access”.
The Director of Corporate Affairs and Market Access of AstraZeneca, Marta Moreno, has pointed out that cancer patients are still afraid after two hard years and “work must be done to make them feel safe, although there are limitations, mainly in Primary Care”.
Access to innovative treatments
Marta Moreno has emphasized the need for patients to access the innovations that exist in new oncological therapies and added: “The cancer patient must be streamlined just as it is done with the covid patient.”
“Although it has been difficult to recruit patients,” he pointed out, “the chain of clinical trials in hospitals, which is a fundamental part of our system, has not been stopped, and he highlights” the complexity, slowness and limitations of approving new drugs.
Regarding the authorization and financing of new drugs, Dr. García Sanz has underlined: «An average delay in the arrival of patients of 18 months is unacceptable. In Germany, for example, the delay to approve a drug is two or three months.
In this regard, Enriqueta Felip added: «We have to be agile, there are very long times from the time drugs are approved until they arrive, and patients must be guaranteed access to innovation; less bureaucracy and greater transparency are needed in the evaluation processes of new formulas».
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