On a daily average, cancer treatment specialists at MNJ Institute of Oncology and Regional Cancer Centre, Redhills, come across at least four patients who, after exhausting their finances battling the life threatening disease at private hospitals, opt for the State government-funded autonomous institute that provides free treatment
Medical oncologist at the institute, Dr. P. Krishna Chaitanya said of the total expenses on surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, around 75% of the money is spent just on the medicines.
With prices of 42 anti-cancer drugs being revised, officials and oncologists from the institute said that they will be able to buy more chemotherapy medicines and treat more patients. What’s more, they can now buy better quality anti-cancer medicines at substantially lower costs.
Institute director Dr. N. Jayalatha said after the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) announced restriction on trade margin of anti-cancer drugs leading to lower MRPs, they withdrew tender process to buy chemotherapy drugs as they would have had to buy at old (higher) prices.
“We will float new tenders to buy medicines at reduced price. Currently, ours is a 450-bed hospital, but we treat around 500 patients on any given day. After buying medicines at reduced prices, we will be able to treat up to 650 patients. Or, the funds can be used for other patient-centric medical services,” she said.
Apart from patients from Telangana, those from Bihar, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and other States constitute 30% of the patient inflow at the institute. Barring nominal prices for diagnostic tests, charges are not collected for radiation and chemotherapy medicines. It costs at least ₹4 lakh per patient for surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, said Dr. Jayalatha.
“Now we can buy anti-cancer drugs which are of high quality. They were exorbitantly priced earlier,” Dr. Chaitanya said.