ACCESS TO NEW DRUGS: JOINING FORCES TO ELIMINATE INEQUITY

~Patients use Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day to highlight inequities in access to new drugs in Quebec ~

MONTREAL, Oct. 13 /CNW Telbec/ - While there is no cure for metastatic breast cancer, scientific research continues to discover new, innovative treatments that can extend life by a few weeks, months or even years

Patients from the group, Access to New Medication, have expressed their views on the barriers to treatment in Quebec in a video released today - Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day. Access to New Medication hopes the video will help inform the public of the inequities in the current system for evaluating new cancer treatments, and initiate a discussion with political authorities to make access to drugs a priority. The video was made possible by the financial support of Hoffman-La Roche.

"We have to educate people that new drugs are available and that they have a right to them, because many people aren't aware of this," says Caroline Perron, one of the patients who appears in the video. "We have to join forces and fight to give patients access to treatments that may give them a few more months, or even a few more years, than the treatments that are currently reimbursed."

When a patient's financial situation prevents them from accessing the best treatments available, oncologists may be forced to use recognized options that are less effective or more toxic.

"Oncologists should be able to offer our patients the best treatments available, as long as they're less toxic and are effective," said Dr. Jamil Asselah, a medical oncologist at the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke. "Breast cancer patients need to campaign and join forces, because without their voices, we won't have access to new treatments."

"All Quebeckers should have access to the best treatments available, regardless of their financial situation or where they live," says Nathalie Rodrigue, spokesperson for the Coalition Priorité Cancer au Québec (CPCQ). "The Coalition is proud to support any initiative that could help speed up the approval process for new treatments."

If you live in Québec and are concerned about cancer, you can help. Join the group, contact your local media or write your local political representative. Every little bit can make a difference.

To see the video, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou4eBAa4eow .Please note that this video is only in French.

For further information:

For more information, please contact:

Catherine Pouliot
Edelman
514-844-6665, ext. 228
[email protected]

Ian Bolduc
Edelman
514-844-6665, ext 224
[email protected]