AmlanKanti Sarkar
Cancer is one of the greatest health challenges of our time, and a leading cause of death in every corner of the world. Currently, around 65% of all cancer deaths occur in developing countries.Cancer treatment is one of the most major and important aspects in the medical industry. Many pharmaceutical industries have various programs in developing countries for tackling the costs of cancer care. Treatment is only one aspect of cancer care. Many patients are unable to afford the costs of the medications and hence treatment becomes difficult. There are many patient assistance programs by the pharmaceutical companies to ease the financial burden on cancer patients. Patient assistance programs are a diverse collection of programs that vary in how they obtain funding, what steps they take to ease the burden and how these steps are implemented. Sadly, not many patients are aware of these programs due to lack of knowledge and awareness by the pharmaceutical companies and the medical practitioners. These patient assistance programs are an underused, inexpensive methods to tackle the financial obstacles of cancer care. The patients can be made aware of these programs by campaigns and awareness programs. Surveys and studies have shown that most of the patients are in need of an assistance program for their treatment. Pharmaceutical companies have specific criterias for offering their assistance programs, which include the financial status of the patient, age and the severity of the disease. The surveys were done using electronic reviews, telephonic surveys, asking patients and pharmaceutical companies with specifically designed questionnaires. Most of the companies base their eligibility of the PAP on basis of income. Many companies are not willing to disclose their income criteria. If more companies take part in the PAP programs , it will be a very beneficial move towards the treatment of patients in India.
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