Strengthening Health Systems in Low and Middle-Income Countries Through Evaluating Cancer Medicine Prices, Availability and Affordability: A Case Study and Proposal

Cancer is a leading cause of mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It is believed that early detection and treatment may improve health outcomes associated with the disease. The economic perspectives of using newer cancer medicines have raised questions on patients’ accessibility and affordability. Cancer treatment is expensive and high prices of cancer medicines have a huge impact on access in LMICs. Cancer medicines are available across high-income countries, on the contrary, patients’ accessibility to these drugs significantly varies across LMICs. Availability of newer medicines and treatment options means that they will cost patients more. Scarcity of pricing or affordability data is one of the major barriers in the development of effective and transparent pricing policy in LMICs. It is surprising that only one in five LMICs have the necessary data on cancer to make policy decisions. For fair and transparent pricing of cancer drugs, it is imperative to generate and provide robust and quality data to decision makers to determine the best possible pricing model for cancer drugs. This includes information on pricing interventions, accessibility, and affordability of cancer medicines. With the increasing economic burden, it is important to evaluate the impact of current drug prices on affordability and patient’s access to cancer medicines in LMICs. This proposal assesses the prices, availability and affordability of cancer medicines in selected LMICs and the potential impact it may have on the health system.