“I can’t afford it,” says Lety, one of the patients at the Cancer Center of the Social Security Institute of the State of Mexico and Municipalities (Issemym), who, in addition to fighting cancer for the second time, must face the long episodes of shortage of medicines faced by the institutionwhich no doubt particularly affects patients like her.
In October of last year, he began his fight once morest this disease once more; However, as the months go by, the question that overwhelms her is, will they have that medicine? The shortage of medicines has become widespread in the institution, since their beneficiaries assure that there is not even the basics, they refer that neither paracetamol nor diclofenac and that of the famous “vouchers” not to mention.
Many times the patients themselves and their families acquire the medicines in private pharmacies, absorbing these expenses despite the fact that every fortnight their payroll receipt marks the respective discount for Issemym fees.
Diseases advance but what happens when these drugs cannot be bought? Well, you live in constant anguish, says Lety.
“The specific problem with people who have cancer is that it progresses very quickly, depending on the type of cancer we have, some are more aggressive than others, and in the absence of medication it is very easy for them to metastasize or for another type of cancer to arise. in the same person”.
With a tone of concern, mixed with sadness, he assures that “this theme is already recurrent”, because in the eternal waiting to receive chemotherapy patients share their experiences, and many deal with shortages.
“I was prescribed eight chemotherapiesin that first and second chemo I had to buy medicine that cost more than 7 thousand pesos, at that time (…) I mightn’t find the medicines because there weren’t any in the pharmacy. The doctor told me yes it was necessary to apply them because it was part of the whole treatmentSo I needed to buy them.
“This is recurrent because when you go they give you one or two medications, well that is already in the chemo, sometimes I have had to wait up to four hours because the medicine has not arrived or they tell me to leave and then they call us to let us know that it’s over”.
“I can’t pay it”
When they are not expensive, he points out, patients themselves choose to buy them with a lot of effort and sometimes adding to a debt; but there are other more complex cases in which medications are practically unattainable, there is no more to wait for.
“The problem is that the side effects following chemotherapy are very strong and very devastating for one, there are medications that help to counteract them and strengthen the immune system and one buys those or puts up with all the side effects that are horrendous”.
In Lety’s case, the last medicine that he did not find in Issemym is Trastuzumaba solution that It has a cost in the market of 49 thousand 400 pesosan impossible amount to afford in the midst of this disease.
This situation is aggravated when patients come from other regions of the entity. such as Tejupilco, Valle de Bravo, Tlalnepantla, Naucalpan, among other municipalities, since on many occasions Must cover travel and food expenses “so they can tell you that there were no medications.”
The dependence says that the problem is not exclusive to the institution, but it is a generalized theme; assures that it is due to a problem that depends directly on the laboratories and companies in charge of its production, which It also affects other institutions in the sector. and even private hospital companies.
KVS