We all know medication comes with a price tag.
But like a new pair of shoes or your morning coffee, if you simply keep your wallet firmly closed, doesn’t that mean you’ve made a saving?
Perhaps not.
This is a debate in funding for rare cancers every day.
Changes in technology and scientific advances mean cancera disease where abnormal cells split without control and spread to other nearby body tissue and/or organs treatments can now be more targeted than ever.
Instead of relying on older-style treatments like chemotherapya cancer treatment that uses drugs to kill or slow the growth of cancer cells, while minimising damage to healthy cells, with significant side effects impacting the whole body, newer treatments such as immunotherapya treatment that uses a person's immune system to fight cancer can be much more personalised and often better tolerated.
But newer therapies also come with a higher price tag than older treatments.
When a new treatment is lifesaving or extends life, it can be more highly valued. But if outcomes are similar, debate begins about whether the additional cost of a new treatment is “worth it”.
At Rare Cancers Australia, we believe the value of a treatment needs to look beyond the dollars on the price tag.
We believe there is immense value in giving families more time together.
There is value in people feeling well enough that they or their carers can return to work.
There is value in being able to participate in day-to-day activities without the burden of side effects from conventional treatments.
If someone also has young children, the value of successfully treating their cancer is even higher.
This value must also be taken into account when weighing the costs of funding new treatments and technologies.
Just like buying a new pair of runners can help you kick-start an exercise program to boost your overall health, or a new pair of heels can give you the confidence to ace your next job interview, investing in new cancer treatments can also open a world of opportunities.
For some patients, the impact of affordable access to new therapies can literally save lives. For others, treatment can buy time they would have otherwise been denied, or improve quality of lifethe overall well-being of a person diagnosed with cancer, encompassing both physical and emotional aspects of health so they can continue doing the things that are important to them – whether that’s work, hobbies or having an active family life.
It’s hard to put a price tag on hope.
Until we quantify the flow-on benefits of new cancer treatments, it is impossible to accurately determine their true value.
In Australia, there are 151,000 new cancer cases diagnosed and 49,000 Australians who die from cancer each year.
Behind these statistics are real individuals and families feeling the deep and lasting impacts of a cancer diagnosisthe process of identifying a disease based on signs and symptoms, patient history and medical test results.
On the flip side, these are 151,000 people each year who can experience immense physical, psychological, social and emotional benefits from new treatments that enable them to participate more fully in society.
HTAnalysts worked with Rare Cancers Australia to attempt to quantify the value of investing in technology, treatment and programs to prolong life for people with cancer, called the social return on investment.
While this is not an exact science, assigning a monetary figure to benefits like caring for children, celebrating life milestones and reducing mental health impacts helps to provide a common denominator to compare the cost of health investment with the cost of maintaining the status quo.
It is estimated each dollar invested in treatments and technologies that prolong and improve life for patients with non-curative cancers is tripled in social return on investment.
Source: Counting the Cost: The true value of investing in cancer treatment report
Suddenly, those expensive therapies have a much higher value.
It is critical government considers all costs, and all benefits, in decision-making about funding cancer care.
It is only when the full scope of value is considered that we can understand the true cost of cancer – and cement health care as an investment, rather than an expense.
Rare Cancers Australia, Canteen and HTAnalysts collaborated to produce Counting the cost: The true value of investing in cancer treatment. We continue to call on government to assess cancer investment based on all costs to society, not just the dollar figure to pay for medication.
You can learn more about the Counting the Cost: The true value of investing in cancers treatment Report by clicking here