AUSTRALIA The Australian Red Cross is collecting and processing blood using a ground-breaking deep-freeze method, pictured, which will soon be deployed in conflict zones. The technology dramatically extends the shelf life of blood components for up to 10 years. Normally the shelf life is as short as five days for platelets, six weeks for red blood cells and 12 months for plasma. Professor Michael Reade, of the Australian Defence Force Joint Health Command, said the technology would help put an end to the“ enormous amount of waste” of blood products.

Clare Pain

SNAPSHOT

THERE are many reasons to avoid looking to England for inspiration. Its food for instance is often derided for its soggy puddings and over-cooked veg. The comic failures of its soccer team have become a lingering hurt that cuts at the nation’ s very soul.

Then there is the more recent example of its Cancer Drugs Fund. UK’ s Cancer Drugs Fund, which was the subject of a recent damning article in the Annals of Oncology.

The UK fund, set up in 2010 to make more cancer drugs available to patients, began its life with a‘ grass is greener on the other side’ motivation too.

It was established to ensure access to cancer drugs that were available in other countries and freed of the obligation to follow the rigorous processes used by the country’ s National Institute of Health and Care Excellence( the UK body similar to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee) to determine whether or not

Patients treated in a: a drug could be prescribed in the nation’ s publicly funded health system.

The fund had delivered on increasing access to cancer drugs, according to an analysis of 29 drugs the fund had approved in its first five years.

But, of the 47 drug indications approved, only 18 had clinical trial data reporting benefit in overall survival.

And for the 38 % of drugs that failed to prolong overall survival, the median benefit was a disappointing 3.1 months.

The scheme had“ not delivered meaningful value to patients or society”, the authors concluded.

To add insult to injury, the fund didn’ t even bother to record the outcomes in patients treated with the approved drugs.

The cost of the fund had also blown out markedly.

Starting with a budget of £ 50 million($ 86m) per annum, five years on, the scheme consumed £ 1.3 billion($ 2.2bn)— a figure equal to the UK’ s entire annual

Average waiting time for elective surgery: spend on cancer drugs. That money could have been spent on other ways of helping cancer patients, such as screening, surgery and radiotherapy, argued the authors.

Or, they added, it could perhaps have been better used to help other patients who didn’ t have cancer.

There was also an unfortunate effect on the pharmaceutical companies: given approval for their drugs by the fund, there was no incentive for them to enter negotiations on price.

The fund still exists, but is run now in close collaboration with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence.

In Australia, there have been calls for something similar to be established. Several submissions to the Senate Inquiry on cancer drugs suggested we set up a fund modelled on the UK’ s cancer fund.

But, maybe this is the one time we shouldn’ t look over the fence. Annals of Oncology 2017; online.

Average length of stay- emergencies

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“ The health minister, Greg Hunt, has done a great job on the RACGP and AMA, but not on health.”

Former RDAA president Dr Paul Mara speaks out against the pre-budget“ pacts”.

“ Many GPs would be prepared to bulkbill more often if the rebate came close to covering our costs.”

Dr Miriam Grotowski, a

GP in Tamworth, NSW, says she’ s unlikely to start bulk-billing, even after the

Medicare freeze ends.

“ About a year ago, I used to hold very, very biased and limited views on cannabis.”

After researching the topic, GP Dr Teresa Towpik, from Katoomba, NSW, says her view of medicinal cannabis went up in smoke. She is now urging the Federal Government to make the drug easier to prescribe.

www. australiandoctor. com. au 2 June 2017 | Australian Doctor | 31