Statement by members of the Ponte di Legno group on the right of children with leukemia to have full access to essential treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Tognoni, Gianni; Masera, Giuseppe; Pui, Ching‐Hon; Eden, Tob; Nachman, James B.; Gadner, Helmut; Gaynon, P. S.; We, Evans; Schrappe, Martin

doi:10.1093/annonc/mdi025

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…19 Shortages of essential medicines for treating ALL can thus have critical implications for children's and adolescents' lives, which exemplifies the severity of the issue. 20 Anticancer medicine shortages are a major concern worldwide and have been widely reported in recent years, including by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, 21 the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists, 22 and at the national level. 23 In 2018, the European Medicines Agency and Heads of Medicines Agencies held a workshop on the availability of authorised medicines where the consequences of oncology medicine shortages were reported by ESMO and several policy recommendations were made (Table 1).…”

Section: Shortagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Access to essential anticancer medicines for children and adolescents in Europe

et al. 2021

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Background: Essential anticancer medicines are an indispensable component of multidisciplinary treatment of paediatric malignancies. A European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) study reported inequalities in the availability of anticancer medicines for adult solid tumours and provided a model for the present survey. The aim of this survey was to assess the accessibility of essential medicines used in paediatric cancer patients aged 0 to 18 years across Europe from 2016 to 2018. Methods: A list of medicines was drawn with input from the European Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOP Europe) Clinical Research Council referring to the World Health Organization Model List of Essential Medicines for Children (WHO EMLc) 2017. A survey was sent to nominated national clinician and pharmacist rapporteurs and parent associations in up to 37 countries; answers were obtained from 34 countries. Results: The full survey list contained 68 medicines, including 24 on the WHO EMLc 2017. Health professionals reported that 35% of all medicines were prescribed off-label in at least one country and that 44% were always available in >90% of countries. Only 63% of the EMLc 2017 medicines were reported as always available. The main determinant of unavailability was shortages, reported for 72% of medicines in at least one country. Out-of-pocket costs were reported in eight countries. Twenty-seven percent of orally administered medicines were never available in childfriendly formulations. Parents detailed individual efforts and challenges of facilitating ingestion of oral medicines as prescribed. Inequalities in access to pain control during procedures were reported by parents across Europe. Conclusions: Children and adolescents with cancer in Europe experience lack of access to essential medicines. Urgent actions are needed to address shortages, financial accessibility, availability of safe age-appropriate oral formulations, and pain management across Europe.

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Section: Shortagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Access to essential anticancer medicines for children and adolescents in Europe

et al. 2021

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“…Relapse and treatment related toxicity are also common fatal events contributing to the decreased survival rate 8, 9. Fortunately, more and more attention has been now paid for these problems 4, 7, 8, 10–12. Partnerships have been established between treatment centers in developed countries and those in developing ones, which has greatly improved the outcome of ALL treatment in these poor areas 1, 4.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term outcome of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated in China

Tang

Song

et al. 2008

Pediatric Blood & Cancer

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“…The most important factors are availability of drugs at affordable cost and development of centers or groups of excellence to ensure the efficacy and safety of chemotherapy. 7 Socioeconomic characteristics have been associated with discrepancies in health and with disease incidence and mortality in many developed countries. [8][9][10] The relation between social inequalities and cancer has been studied well for adults, 11 but there are few reports regarding the influence of those inequalities for childhood leukemia incidence, mortality, and survival.…”

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confidence: 99%

Trends in childhood leukemia mortality in Brazil and correlation with social inequalities

Ribeiro

Lopes

Camargo

2007

Cancer

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BACKGROUND.Mortality from childhood leukemia has declined substantially in developed countries but less markedly in the developing world. This study was designed to describe mortality trends in childhood leukemia and the impact of social inequalities on these trends in Brazil from 1980 to 2002.METHODS.Cancer mortality data by cause and estimates of resident population stratified by age and sex were obtained from the Brazilian Mortality Information System (SIM) for the years 1980 to 2002. Age‐standardized (ages 0‐19 years) mortality rates were calculated by the direct method using the 1960 world standard population. Trends were modeled using linear regression with 3‐year moving average rates as the dependent variable and with the midpoint of the calendar year interval (1991) as the independent variable. The Index of Social Exclusion was used to classify the 27 Brazilian states. Pearson correlation was used to describe the correlation between social exclusion and variations in mortality in each state.RESULTS.Age‐standardized mortality rates for boys decreased from 2.05 per 100,000 habitants in 1984 to 1.44 100,000 habitants in 1995, whereas the observed corresponding decline among girls was from 1.60 per 100,000 habitants in 1986 to 1.14 per 100,000 habitants in 1995. Statistically significant declining trends in mortality rates were observed for boys (adjusted correlation coefficient [r2] = 0.68; P < .001) and girls (adjusted r2 = 0.62; P < .001). Significant negative correlations between social inequality and changes in mortality were noted for boys (r = −0.66; P = .001) and for girls (r = −0.78; P < .001).CONCLUSIONS.A consistent decrease in mortality rates from childhood leukemia was noted in Brazil. Higher decreases in mortality were observed in more developed states, possibly reflecting better health care. Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society.

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Statement by members of the Ponte di Legno group on the right of children with leukemia to have full access to essential treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Cited by 10 publications

References 1 publication

Access to essential anticancer medicines for children and adolescents in Europe

Access to essential anticancer medicines for children and adolescents in Europe

Long‐term outcome of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated in China

Trends in childhood leukemia mortality in Brazil and correlation with social inequalities

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