David Khayat, at the origin of the cancer plan launched in 2003, commissioned a study on the economic cost of cancer for society. Results, prices explode and the slate displays 28 billion euros. For the oncologist, the pricing system must be completely reviewed.
“No serious evaluation has been made since the one I requested in 2007 when I chaired the National Cancer Institute (Incas) and which involved data from 2004”launched David Khayat at the Sunday newspaper (JDD), when announcing the figures of the study he himself commissioned on the economic cost of cancer. The survey was carried out by the firm Asterès and financed by the International Cancer Institute, founded by Professor Khayat.
More effective but more expensive treatments
Cancer cost 28 billion euros in 2017, an increase of almost 8 billion euros compared to 2004. For Pierre Bentata, economist in charge of the study, this increase “is not surprising because the population is aging and the health system, which treats us better, is in a way a victim of its own success”. Among these expenses, those related to care are the most important. They increased by 50% compared to 2004 and reached 16.5 billion euros. An increase justified by “the emergence of more effective but also more expensive treatments and by a greater number of patients treated”develops Nicolas Bouzou, director of the firm Asterès.
These expenses were split in two by the study, with on one side the direct cost of the disease and on the other its indirect cost. The direct cost fell to 18.3 billion euros in 2017, to which should be added the amounts allocated to the policy of prevention, screening and research, for an amount of approximately 1 billion euros. . The indirect cost is more difficult to quantify since it concerns the “years of life lost”, details Pierre Bentata, which relate to the early deaths of patients who, if they had survived, would have worked and contributed to the country’s GDP. In total, this concerns 2.3 million years of life lost in 2017, which represents 9.7 billion euros in loss.
Rethinking drug pricing
For David Khayat, the conclusion of this explosion in the cost of cancer is that the cost is not going to stop increasing and that the focus must be “on prevention” and the “early diagnosis”. Another point for improvement, according to him, is the price of immunotherapy drugs, which can exceed, in some cases, €100,000. “The only thing we did was delay the refund. It is not a long-term solution and in no way a solution for the sick”laments the oncologist.
Concretely, David Khayat wishes “rethink the methods of fixing the price of medicines” in order to encourage laboratories to “provide the best treatments to as many people as possible while guaranteeing the sustainability of their research and development activity”. He cites as an example a refund that would be conditional on its effectiveness, as is the case in Germany, Scotland or the United States.
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