Internist Gabe Sonke wants to investigate whether this can be cured
Fortunately, more and more people with cancer are recovering from the disease. Over the past ten years, 5-year survival has increased by 8 percent. This is partly due to new medicines that are unfortunately too expensive to buy.
The cost of cancer drugs has increased tenfold over the past decade. Now it works about 3 billion euros per year. Internist Gabe Sonke of the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital, who specializes in cancer, is concerned. From her new chair at the University of Amsterdam, she will investigate how costs have risen so much.
Is it right?
Is it true that these drugs are very expensive, or is the industry playing a “wrong” role? And how can we counter it? According to Sonke, the high prices of cancer drugs not only put too much pressure on the social costs, but they also disadvantage the patient. “Studies on new drugs are designed so that drugs are sometimes used longer than necessary, sometimes more than necessary, and sometimes in doses higher than necessary,” Sonke says. He argues for new requirements for research into cancer drugs so that this no longer happens.
Fly: (very accessible!) keynote can be heard on the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek website.
Source: Gezondheids Net
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
