A small supply of the breast cancer drug Herceptin has been ordered by the government to offer some financial reprieve to women already taking this expensive treatment.
A total of 210 vials of this drug, which gives women better odds of beating an aggressive type of breast cancer, will be purchased as a stopgap measure for those who cannot wait until early next year, when Herceptin will be available for free.
Health Parliamentary Secretary Joe Cassar said when contacted the decision was taken to support families who were struggling to cope with financial constraints to keep their mother or wife alive.
Dr Cassar said the government would be spending a one-time amount of €122,000 over and above the €1.3 million a year it would allocate as from 2009.
The adjudication process of the tender for this purchase will start this week and the government should have the supply in hand within three weeks.
Two weeks ago, the government had promised to provide Herceptin for free to about 40 patients who need this treatment. Each patient will require about 55 doses a year, depending on their weight, which would mean buying 2,200 doses a year.
The tender for the purchase of a three-year supply was issued on October 25 in the EU's official journal Tenders Electronic Daily (and not in the Government Gazette, since this is an international call), and will close on December 16.
However, the purchase of Herceptin will not come at the expense of a national breast screening programme. Sources told The Sunday Times that the government will be allocating money for this initiative in tomorrow's Budget.
The debate over whether to introduce the screening programme, which can detect cancer at an early stage and dramatically improve the chances of effective treatment, has been raging for years. However, Dr Cassar and Social Policy Minister John Dalli have since confirmed that the programme will be launched once finances are allocated.
"The breast screening programme is no longer pie in the sky," Mr Dalli said.
Five-year survival rates of breast cancer for Malta do not compare favourably and remain below the European average.
However, Herceptin, combined with a national breast screening programme, should help lower the mortality rate of breast cancer, which is the most common cancer to afflict women - over 32 per cent of all cancers.
Herceptin, which reduces the risk of death, only works on about 25 per cent of breast cancer patients who have tumours classed as HER2 positive, which is an aggressive form.
As with any drug there are side effects, and patients with some form of heart disease should not take Herceptin because research has shown indications that it can worsen such conditions.
Oncologists will decide if the drug is right for their patient following tests to establish the form and stage of the cancer.