17 New Anti-Cancer Drugs Approved in China

Medicine
Medicine (photo: Pixabay)
By Faith MagbanuaOctober 12th, 2018

China has approved 17 anti-cancer medicines to be included in its national health insurance system, the government said on Wednesday, October 10, 2018.

The announcement came as part of its efforts to make cancer treatment more affordable as the number of cancer cases increases over the years.

China's State Medical Insurance Administration has been in negotiations with domestic and overseas pharmaceutical companies to lower medicine prices and to put more cancer drugs on the list of medicines that are eligible for reimbursement.

The 17 drugs, which include azacitidine, will remain eligible until Nov. 30, 2020.

Cancer in China

Over the past years, China's cancer rates have been soaring, driven by the growing numbers of over-60s citizens, heavy smoking among men and the exposure to pollution. The National Cancer Center said last year that there were 4.29 million new cases every year and 2.81 million deaths.

According to a study, In 2017, 449 cancer registries submitted cancer registry data in 2014, among which 339 registries' data met the criteria of quality control and were included in analysis. These cancer registries covered 288,243,347 populations, accounting for about 21.07% of the national population in 2014. Numbers of nationwide new cancer cases and deaths were estimated using calculated incidence and mortality rates and corresponding national population stratified by area, sex, age group and cancer type. The world Segi's population was applied for age-standardized rates.

Meanwhile, as the toll rise for cancer patients in the country, China has vowed to improve the five-year cancer survival rate by 15 percentage points by 2030. The rate stood at 30 percent in 2015, half the U.S. level.

 

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