The comprehensive approach to cancer in Spain had a turning point on January 18 with the celebration of the conference ‘Cancer in Spain: a vital emergency’ . In it, more than thirty entities involved in its approach —scientific societies, patient associations and NGOs— have made a common front to define a ‘road map’ with which to address the existing inequities and challenges around a pathology that causes more of 113,000 deaths and 280,000 new diagnoses per year in Spain.
The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias , participated in the meeting corroborating the Government’s support for the ‘Cancer NOW’ project, promoted by the ECO Foundation and the framework of which this meeting was held. It should be remembered that this initiative aims —through different actions— to place this pathology as a “priority” on the political agenda for the coming years.
In his speech, Darias pointed out as a “first order priority” to improve detection and treatment through commitments such as the National Strategy Against Cancer, the Inveat Plan —which will allocate 795 million euros to High Technology Units— or Precision Oncology. “In the approach to cancer you cannot lose a single minute. And we must do it with a basic premise: collaborating, cooperating and working together”, the minister recalled.
Together with the minister, more than twenty panelists participated in this conference through different blocks that analyzed axes such as access to innovation, equity in cancer care, as well as the incorporation and management of more biomarkers in clinical practice that allow care and therapy .
Previously, in the inaugural conference, the president of the ECO Foundation, Rafael López , outlined the European Plan against Cancer that will soon be approved by the European Parliament, as well as other ongoing continental strategies. “European citizens need a quality screening and a network of reference centers”, he has indicated as some objectives.
The first round table dealt with ‘Equity in Oncology Care’ , where the existing inequities between hospitals in the different Autonomous Communities were highlighted. In the words of Carlos Camps , director of Scientific Programs of the ECO Foundation, the first transformation must be tackled from the base: “we have a model health system organization, but a model for the 1980s,” he said.
For this reason, a profound reform of the procedures is advocated within which the incorporation of new diagnostic technologies in a homogeneous manner throughout the territory is addressed, as well as maximizing the use of human and economic resources that have repercussions on improvements in care, without distinctions, for all cancer patients. Camps has underlined “the need to work in networks to ensure equity.”
Likewise, at the table called ‘Biomarkers in Oncology’ , the vice-president of the ECO Foundation, Jesús García-Foncillas , focused on the “paradigm change” that the arrival of biomarkers (genomic determinations) has brought about in order to “carry out an approximation more targeted” in treatment and search for the most effective treatments based on the molecular characteristics of the disease”.
The speakers at this table agreed on the same idea: it is urgent to detect and incorporate new biomarkers into the portfolio of services of the National Health System in an effective way, so that all hospitals can access and work with them. In Oncology, betting on precision medicine is betting on quality medicine, the panelists agreed.
Subsequently, in another table dedicated to access to innovation , the differences in access to new oncological treatments of Spanish patients compared to European citizens, as well as between the various Autonomous Communities of the country, were highlighted. Various studies mentioned, such as the WAIT report, reveal that only 50 percent of the drugs approved at European level by the EMA are subsequently approved in Spain. Or that, after its approval by the EMA, the average access time in Spain —when it is financed— exceeds 450 days compared to around 120 days in countries like Germany.
A demand that is not new and that requires immediate action . The current challenge is to ensure rapid access to innovation in a restrictive economic context. “The new evaluation and financing models for medicines in Spain should help reduce these delays,” said Vicente Guillem , director of Institutional Relations at the ECO Foundation.
