Add your voice. The UN is asking people to submit and vote on questions to ask candidates. Now that making access to affordable medicines is a priority in the Global Goals, it’s crucial that the candidates are asked about their ideas on how to make this goal a reality.

We have come up with the following question that you can submit into the online form. The more people who submit this question, the higher the likelihood of it being included in the final list.

The UN has played an important role in ensuring access to affordable medicine for HIV/AIDS. How will you build off this success to ensure affordable access to medicine for all diseases?

Click here to submit this question to the United Nations.

The post Ask the Next UN Leader a Question on Access to Medicines appeared first on Access Our Medicine.

We wrote about DoH a couple of years ago when they were recognized for their innovative, impactful and compassionate approach to making medicines more affordable and accessible.

Watch this latest video from DoH, which illustrates their model, and ways you can contribute to their mission of connecting communities and people with hope.

Dispensary of Hope from Creative Communications on Vimeo.

The post Watch How Dispensary of Hope Moves Medicines to the Most Underserved Communities appeared first on Access Our Medicine.

I was diagnosed with a particularly severe and aggressive form of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) in 1984 at the age of 24, with a newborn baby and a two year old. The next decade and a half were all about trying to find a medication to control the disease though none were particularly effective.

Four years later, in 1998 there were no new drugs that were approved in Canada for me to try. Certain new treatments had been approved by the FDA in the US but Health Canada could provide no timeline for approval here. They did not consider RA a serious enough condition to warrant special access! Since these new drugs cost approximately $25,000 per year my future looked pretty bleak. After spending the majority of 1998 in bed, 1999 saw me in hospital for three months; this was a trying year and a half during which I was unable to care for my children or participate in normal, everyday activities.

During my extended hospital stay my husband went to a local town hall meeting with our elected representative. Everyone was complaining about the condition of the roads and issues around schools but Kerry was focused on getting me back home and returning to me some quality of life. He challenged our MLA to come to the hospital to see me. Surprisingly, the MLA showed up in my hospital room a few days later! As a result of that visit I was able to get a meeting with the Southern NB Caucus of MLAs. On a day pass from hospital, my husband carried me into that meeting and I told them about what my life was like. I told them how this new drug could be my only hope to return home to be with my family, that was available just across the border.

Three weeks later, one week after my first injection of the drug called Enbrel, after spending the year in a wheelchair, I walked out of the hospital. There would be several more hospital stays to repair damage done to my joints but fifteen years later I am still mobile and have dedicated my life to helping to improve the lives of others living with devastating diseases like mine.

No one should have to put their life on hold because they are unable to access a medicine that could help them live a life with less pain and disability. Working with the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance, I see too many people who are struggling to access arthritis medicine because of the cost. That’s why I’ve signed the Declaration for Affordable Medicine and I invite you to join me by adding your voice at www.accessourmedicine.com.

The post Guest Blogger: Linda & A Canadian Story of Access to Arthritis Medicines appeared first on Access Our Medicine.

This blog was originally published on the Costs of Care website. Holly Woodcock is a nurse from Idaho, and one of the winners in the 2015 Costs of Care Essay Contest.

I’m a nurse and a patient. My story starts out during Thanksgiving of 2009 when I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at the tender age of 47. Stage IIIB. Metastatic, but curable they told me. After three surgeries, hospital stays, blood work, traveling, chemotherapy for six months, all the follow-ups with physicians, CT scans, the medications needed at home, I’m still paying.

As a consumer, it’s really enough to make a head spin. As a nurse, I’m aware of hospital costs. I know it’s expensive. Expenses add up fast as $100 co-pay after $100 co-pay are requested with every doctor’s visit, every clinic visit, and every X-ray visit. Cancer didn’t take into account all the income I’d lost post-surgery or the days I couldn’t go to work because I was too weak or too sick to go in. It ate through my sick leave and savings quickly. I am so fortunate to have great health insurance.

Undeniably, my insurance company paid well. I’d look at the explanation of benefits every month, astonished and overwhelmed that chemotherapy could actually cost $75 thousand a month or that one shot to keep my white blood cell count could cost $7 thousand and I needed two every month. It’s still bizarre to think I paid them to inject poison in my veins.

When the end of chemo came in 2010, I was well over $35 thousand in the red – all from stupid cancer. Costs are crippling cancer patients to the point of losing jobs, losing businesses, losing homes, having liens, going bankrupt. Sadly, due to complications from treatment, I can no longer do bedside nurse. I am currently going back to school for my master’s degree to teach nursing students. A lot of people don’t have that option. What happens to them?

The economic impact of cancer care alone in the U. S. during 2011 was astronomical, annual costs were estimated to be at $88.7 billion.  Yes, that’s a billion with a “B”.  In 2012, it was estimated that over 15% of Americans didn’t have insurance. Those that are “lucky” enough to have insurance are burdened with the higher costs of deductibles, they’re also paying for the newer FDA approved medications that are helping win the fight.  A drug that cost a few hundred dollars last year is being replaced with the newer drugs this year, costing consumers tens of thousands a month now. When I sat with my oncologist for the first time, we talked about side effects of chemo. The tingling in my hands and feet, the mouth sores, how my balance would be effected, how I could only eat and drink room temperature foods, to cover up when it’s cold because it will feel like shards of glass are ripping your skin off. He never mentioned the side effect of my finances. He didn’t tell me just how expensive it would be to fight the beast.

Countless colorectal cancer friends I’ve met along this journey have similar stories. One friend lost his business and his home. He’ll never work again due to the after-effects of this treatments. Even though his insurance paid, his treatments ate up his retirement, his savings and his way of life. Another friend, after his wife died, filed for bankruptcy from the resulting medical bills. His credit is ruined, he drives a $200 car and lives with his mom.

Cancer expenses are about more than just money. Cancer has cost us peace of mind, it’s knowing you wake up in the morning and can never go back to a job you love, one that you planned on retiring from. It’s about keep the wolf away from your back door.

We’ve worked hard and we’ve mostly dug out from the bills that cancer gave us. I’ve sat my husband down and told him however, under no terms, if this cancer returns, I’m not treating it. I refuse to leave him bankrupt. I believe I live in the richest country in the world, with the best medical care available; fighting cancer shouldn’t have to make you pick between treatment and food or medicine and rent.

The post The Costs of Cancer Care appeared first on Access Our Medicine.

For example, India experiences wastage of at least 50 percent of vaccines stocked by various healthcare organizations due to heat exposure. A study on Uganda’s Medical Stores found 10 million doses of antimalarials and US$550,000 worth of antiretrovirals (ARV) were expired.  In the UK, drug wastage costs the National Health Service close to £150 million a year, half of which can be avoided. And, in the US, some figures point to $2 billion a year in medicines that go to waste.

Fortunately, a number of non-profit organizations, entrepreneurs and philanthropic individuals around the world are connecting the dots between widespread medicine wastage and lack of access through medicine recycling initiatives, which seek to improve access for low-income or uninsured groups. Here are 4 such initiatives:

1. The Medicine Baba (India): Omkarnath, who is also known as the “Medicine Baba” (header picture), goes door-to-door in New Delhi every day to collect unused prescription drugs from affluent homes, and donates whatever hasn’t expired to patients who need medicines they can’t afford. Every month, he distributes medicines worth more than $9,000 for free.

2. Waleed Shawky (Egypt): More than half of Egyptians lack access to the medications they need. And yet, the annual medicine wastes are estimated to be 1 billion Egyptian Pounds. Waleed’s “Medicine for All” initiative uses a community-based system to collect, sort, and re-distribute medicine from affluent households, pharmacies, and pharmaceutical companies to low-income families in Egypt. He has partnered with 30 NGOs across the country and has significantly increased medicine donations in the past eight years.

3. Dispensary of Hope (U.S): As a charitable medication distributor, Dispensary of Hope (DoH) connects surplus medications from manufacturers, distributors, and providers to clinics and pharmacies serving the poor and uninsured. DoH works with about 80 partners in 16 states, and distributed $10 million of donated medicine in 2014.

4. SIRUM (U.S.): Founded by three young Stanford graduates, SIRUM’s platform has been described as the Match.com for unused medicines. It enables safe, peer-to-peer redistribution of medicines directly from the hands of the donating individual or organization to the recipient clinic or pharmacy that has a need.

Access Our Medicines supports the philosophy behind these initiatives – everyone should have access to the medicines they need, and solutions are within reach. Add your voice to the Declaration for Affordable Medicines, which will be presented to world leaders, policy makers, the industry and the public: accessourmedicine.com

The post Recycling Unused Medicines: A Way to Improve Access appeared first on Access Our Medicine.

Retired Charlotte florist Jimmy White and his wife, Martha, paid more than $8,000 for his cancer therapy in pill form even though insurance had paid the entire cost of chemotherapy by injection. White is diagnosed with amyloidosis.

Jimmy White of Charlotte is an example of a cancer patient whose out-of-pocket bills jumped when he switched from injections to pills.

Although he is covered by Medicare and his out-of-pocket costs would not be affected by a change in state law, his situation is similar to that of privately insured patients who would benefit from the proposed “oral chemo parity” bill.

In 2013, when White, 75, got chemotherapy injections to treat his rare cancer, Medicare and private insurance covered the entire cost – $3,360 per week over nine months.

But when the retired florist switched to cancer treatment in pill form, he had to pay out-of-pocket, anywhere from $500 to $2,500 a month. Over that time, he and his wife, Martha, paid more than $8,000 for Revlimid.

He has changed to another drug, Pomalyst, also in pill form. It will cost the Whites $800-900 per month out-of-pocket. And he’s not sure if it will improve or extend his life. His application for financial assistance from the drug company had been rejected until Tuesday, when he learned it will pick up the cost.

Until then, Martha White said, “You just wonder, do you want to deplete your life savings?”

Medicines should be affordable for all, and patients should not have to make the difficult choice between their medications and depleting life savings. Add your voice to the Declaration for Affordable Medicine: www.accessourmedicine.com

The post Cancer Patient Saw Costs Jump: Jimmy and Martha White’s Story appeared first on Access Our Medicine.

1. United States: 115 doctors press for new regulations to control soaring prices of cancer drugs

More than 100 doctors from top cancer hospitals in the U.S. have objected to soaring cancer drug prices, and have called for new regulations to control them. In the past five years, 15 new cancer drugs have entered the market with price tags of at least $10,000. Rising costs of cancer drugs are raising the stakes for patients, often forcing a hard choice between spending their incomes and liquidating their assets, or forgoing treatment to support their families. Learn more.

2. Australia: Revolutionary melanoma drug worth $150,000 made more affordable

The Federal Government of Australia will invest $57 million to list a breakthrough melanoma drug on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), making the drug more affordable to more than 1,000 Australians living with the disease. According to Grant McArthur – Oncology Professor at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center, the listing of this drug on the PBS shows “what can happen when everyone works together to get these drugs listed quickly…if we work together we can speed up access to cancer drugs”. Learn more.

3. Vatican City: The Vatican calls for greater access to medicines for Least Developed Countries

Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi delivered a speech to the World Trade Organization calling for waivers for the Least Developed Countries (LCDs) from certain obligations of intellectual property treaties in order to give them better access to essential medicines and vaccines, with particular focus on those living with HIV/AIDS. In 2011, of the 34 million people living with HIV worldwide, some 9.7 million lived in LDCs. Of these, 4.6 million were in need of antiretroviral treatment; however only 2.5 million received it. Read the full speech.

4. South Africa: Leading health organizations join fight for affordable medicines

Twelve leading organizations in South Africa, which includes patient groups, have joined Fix the Patent Laws, which pushes for reform of the country’s current patent laws that, in their views, restrict access to to affordable medicines for all people living in South Africa. Read more about the initiative and supporting organizations here.

5. India: Provision of affordable AIDS medicine will continue, despite pressure

India has reaffirmed its determination to continue providing affordable medicines to everyone with HIV, despite pressure from trade organizations to stop making generic AIDS drugs. India is the largest producer of generic HIV drugs that are provided at relatively cheaper prices compared to branded names. The UN and other organisations estimate that more than 80% of the medicines, known as anti-retroviral therapy, in Africa come from India. Learn more.

The post Five Efforts From Around the World to Make Medicines More Affordable appeared first on Access Our Medicine.

– Nearly a quarter of Canadians report that they, or someone in their household, did not take their prescribed medicines in the last 12 months because of cost.

– A third of Canadians say they have friends or family members who cannot afford to pay for their prescription medications.

– More than one-in-five Canadians say they have compensated by skipping doses, splitting pills, or simply not filling their prescriptions.

National drug coverage as a solution? 

Over the past three weeks, these figures have contributed to the growing debate on whether Canada should implement a national drug coverage program. According to OECD health data, Canada has the second worst drug coverage amongst all OECD countries, followed by the U.S. that has the worst coverage.

The study by the Angus Reid Institute and public discussions on a Pharmacare program have sparked useful considerations on both sides of the debate. On one hand, there are clear benefits to a national drug plan. National drug coverage could ensure all Canadians have access to the drugs they need, and a report by the Mowat Center notes that a Pharmacare program could save $11.4 billion annually. The Angus Reid Institute study also shows strong public support for such a program: Nine-in-ten Canadians indicated support for this concept. But, they also expressed concerns on specific elements of the program.

There are two important cautionary notes expressed in public discussions:

1. What is the optimal vehicle by which such a program should run? There is skepticism on the program being run entirely at the federal level. Any national Pharmacare program will need to include a purchasing group that is capable of separating itself from inevitable politics of drug coverage, and there are models from the UK, New Zealand, France and Australia that Canada can look to.

2. There will need to be a strong focus on effectiveness of drugs. Decisions on funding should be based on performance of the drugs. In absence of evidence-based decisions, Canada could be left with an even more irrational and expensive drug coverage system.

A key take-home point from the Angus Reid survey is that the vast majority of Canadians believe that “Every Canadian – regardless of income – should have access to necessary prescription medicine” – a statement that goes to the very core philosophy of the Access Our Medicines initiative.

With the concept of national drug coverage now becoming a key election platform in Canada, it will undoubtedly continue to build momentum over the next few months. You can follow the discussions using #pharmacare on social media.

The post National Drug Coverage in Canada? appeared first on Access Our Medicine.

A recent survey highlights the prevalence of this problem:

– 70 per cent of Canadians “worry they’ll fall through the cracks” of the system within the next 5-10 years.
– 52 per cent “know a friend or family member who cannot afford prescription medication, and have had to skip or delay renewing prescriptions as a result”.

The survey also indicates that Canadians are interested in new solutions. And, perhaps the most obvious is to extend the universal health coverage to cover prescription drugs.

– 65 per cent of Canadians say they’d be willing to pay higher taxes so prescription medicines can be covered as a part of Medicare.
– 54 per cent would like some kind of national agency to be made responsible “for deciding which drugs are covered and negotiating the prices for them”.

These findings align with the calls for a universal pharmacare system, which according to a report by the Mowat Center, could save billions of dollars. There seems to be growing awareness across the country that this problem exists, and the survey points to a willingness to explore solutions.

Add your voice to the Declaration for Affordable Medicines, which will be presented to world leaders, policy makers, the industry and the public: accessourmedicine.com

The post 4 Statistics that Show Canada Needs More Affordable Medicine appeared first on Access Our Medicine.

In the past 5 years, 15 new cancer drugs have entered the market with price tags of at least $10,000. This is indicative of trends in costs of medicine. According to a recent article that digs into costs, experimental cholesterol drugs could cost $10,000 a year, and a drug for cystic fibrosis is priced at about $300,000 a year. The list goes on.

The unsustainably rising costs are raising the stakes for patients, often pushing them to bankruptcy. A recent story by NBC on Lauren Baumann, a 30-year old mother living in Kentucky who lives with chronic myeloid leukemia, conveys the widespread struggle. She has to spend close to $2,000 a month for her medication, which she will have to take for the rest of her life, and which has tripled in wholesale price since entering the market in 2001. To put this into perspective, she pays about twice the average mortgage payment in the U.S. to access medicines that help her manage her disease.

Rather than accept this as the “new normal”, there are people proposing solutions. How can we change this?

Dr. Peter Bach, director of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Center for Health Policy and Outcomes, suggests linking price of medicines to performance. While there are challenges to implementing this kind of model in different markets, it has been implemented in several European state-run health systems. Others propose looking at alternative ways to fund R&D, which is a major cost driver. Dr. Leonard Saltz – chief of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center –  has suggested allowing Medicare, the largest purchaser of drugs in the US, to negotiate prices directly with pharmaceutical companies.

Perhaps curbing the rising costs of medicine first starts with building a public voice on this issue, and that is certainly in play around the world. That is our aim at Access Our Medicine: build a collective voice across all stakeholders as a call for transformative ideas and models that could ensure that life-changing medicines are made more affordable to all in the near future. The solutions are by no means straightforward, but they are within reach.

You can add your voice to the call for affordable medicine here.

The post Costs of Medicine – How to Go beyond the New Normal appeared first on Access Our Medicine.