Access and availability: Why are Europeans finding it hard to get the new medicines they need?
In this episode of Smart Health, we hear from patients who are struggling to get hold of the new medicines they desperately need and ask what the EU is doing to address disparities in access and availability across Member States
Transcript
00:00 41-year-old IT engineer and amateur cyclist Kuba Molke lives in Poland.
00:10 Health problems during his late teen years have left him with painful memories.
00:15 My symptoms was diarrhoea and then blood in stool and so on and so on, frequent diarrhoea
00:21 that is.
00:22 And all the doctors said that it's due to stress before the A-levels, but when I was
00:27 done with my A-levels and entrance exams to universities, it still persisted.
00:33 So that's when I seriously started looking for help.
00:42 Kuba was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease.
00:47 Successive treatments proved less and less effective.
00:52 Both here in Poland and in the European Union, a particular injectable medicine that can
00:57 help treat his condition is available.
00:59 But for months, Kuba could not get it.
01:02 The only way he was finally able to access the drug was by volunteering for an ongoing
01:07 research programme.
01:11 The first thing I did was asking my doctor if there are other ways to pursue, to get
01:18 the medicine I need.
01:20 And then he came up with the idea to take part in the research.
01:25 I slowly started to see that there's improvement in my condition.
01:30 Like Kuba, thousands of other Poles and European patients are finding it hard to get their
01:35 hands on the latest and most effective medicines they need.
01:40 Waiting times to access some of these medicines can be unbearably long and there are major
01:45 disparities among EU countries when it comes to this.
01:58 Doctors are often left with fewer options and the consequences for patients can be dire,
02:03 says Kuba's gastroenterologist.
02:09 We have the patient that they are losing response from the older medication and if we don't
02:16 have the drug programme and other substances, we have nothing to offer this patient.
02:22 Sometimes the patient found the clinical trials and trying in this way.
02:29 So if we were able to treat it faster, it would be better to the patient, of course.
02:38 Her recent study identified ten factors that could explain why medicines and treatments
02:43 available in some EU member states are sometimes out of reach for others.
02:51 Some of those factors can be addressed at the European level, as stated by the recent
02:55 European Commission pharmaceutical reform proposal.
03:01 That's according to the European Commissioner for Health.
03:05 We need to provide strong incentives for companies so that they release new medicines to all
03:10 member states at the same time.
03:12 We are also in the reform improving the authorisation process.
03:17 For example, you will be able to authorise through the European Medicines Agency new
03:23 medicines much earlier.
03:24 Today you need about 400 days to authorise a new medicine.
03:28 With the new procedures we are putting into place, it will be 180 days.
03:32 This means that they will reach the shelf of the pharmacy much quicker.
03:38 Pharmaceutical companies say they are ready to discuss breakthroughs.
03:42 Some commitments are already on the table, claims the Director General of the European
03:47 Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations.
03:52 For us, that our products reach the patients is the objective, that they reach as many
03:55 patients as possible, as widely as possible.
03:57 The differences in access and availability are multifactorial.
04:01 There is no easy fix.
04:03 What we did as an industry is to address the ones that are our responsibility by making
04:08 a commitment to find a price in every single member state within two years of when the
04:12 product is approved.
04:14 The other part that we also developed as a proposal was to have a price framework so
04:20 that countries are able to purchase products based on their buying power, because different
04:24 countries have different buying powers.
04:29 Whatever the solutions might be, time is running out for some patients.
04:34 Volunteering in a research programme has enabled KUBA to access an efficient treatment for
04:39 two years.
04:40 But what happens next remains uncertain.
04:45 I'll be worrying when the time comes.
04:47 That's my motto, basically.
04:49 But hopefully yes.
04:50 This is like two years ahead, so I think, you know, some things may change for the better.
04:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]