A CANCER treatment specialist of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) is appealing to the Department of Health (DOH) to hasten the approval of new cancer treatments given continued advancement of medical technology globally.
In a recent media forum, PGH oncologist Dr Kenneth Samala asked the DOH to consider the inclusion of targeted therapy and other newer forms of cancer treatment in the Philippine National Drug Formulary (PNDF) to make them more accessible to patients.
“We hope that their inclusion in the national formulary will be expedited. Once it is included, there is no more hurdle for the DOH to acquire them,” Samala said.
The PNDF is a list of selected essential medicines. It aims to ensure better management of medicines through improved quality control, more cost effective use of health resources, and ensures regular supply of essential medicines.
Samala said he is issuing the call as there have been several advances in cancer treatment over the years beyond chemotherapy.
“This is really one of our roadblocks. It’s very hard to be included in the drug formulary despite being found as effective,” he said.
As an example, Samala said, targeted therapy is beneficial to cancer patients as it requires less time to queue for treatment compared to chemotherapy.
“If you give injection, it will only take 5 to 10 minutes. So, in one hour, you can cater to 5 to 6 patients. With the usual chemotherapy, only two patients can be catered to in an hour,” he said.
Samala said he has observed fewer side effects from targeted therapy compared to chemotherapy.
