MEXICO CITY.— The Lack of drugs to treat colorectal cancera disease that represents the leading cause of cancer death in the country, influences the high mortality of patients, For this reason, activists called on the Mexican health authorities to solve this problem.
“There is a problem of shortage, but another point is that this type of cancer is detected in advanced stages, and this situation causes patients to have a lower chance of getting ahead and for the treatment to be effective,” he said. Patricio Gonzalezcoordinator of care and support for patients of the Mexican Association for the Fight against Cancer (Amlcc).
In an interview, González, also a cancer survivor, said that in 2022 in Mexico, 207,000 new cases of cancer, Of these, 16,082 were colorectal, making it the third cancer with the highest number of cases each year.
In addition, he assured that in Mexico this neoplasia has become the main cause of death in the country, since causes 8,283 deaths annuallywhile breast cancer totals 8,195 and lung cancer 7,808 deaths.
Although he acknowledged that this situation is caused by the late detection of the disease, often due to errors in diagnosis, other factors also play a role in Mexico, such as the shortage of oncological drugs and difficulties in accessing the health system.
“Many patients take a long time to be diagnosed because the symptoms are not treated correctly and it takes many years to be diagnosed with gastritis, colitis, inflammatory disease, hemorrhoids and this leads to a lack of timely detection,” warned González.
Furthermore, the demand for health services is overwhelming, so a correct diagnosis can take up to two years. “In addition, there is a shortage of doctors and nursing staff that cannot meet the great demand that exists.”
Drug shortage in Mexico
Regarding medicines, he noted that in recent years there has been a major shortage of drugswhich has led to the death of some patients.
“This means that if a person does not receive proper treatment, unfortunately, they will find themselves in a more complicated situation and the disease will progress, and this is a constant in all of the country’s health systems,” he explained.
In addition, he said that many patients do not have social security, so they often have to buy their treatments, which affects their economic capacity and their quality of life.
“For example, the drug Regorafenib costs more than 42,000 pesos, others like Panitumumab costs more than 18,000 pesosand sometimes the family has to sell everything they have to pay for medicine and they are left in ruin,” he said.
Given this situation, González called on the authorities, the medical community and civil society to help patients so that they can access health institutions, have greater adherence to treatment and provide them with a better quality of life to those who live with this disease.
“And, above all, we must continue to guarantee access to treatment for the entire population,” he stressed.
The crisis caused by the shortage of medicines in the Mexican health sector worsened in 2019 due to budget cuts and changes in the purchase of medicines, imposed by the Mexican government. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
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2024-08-28 03:35:09
