‘Slash waiting time and increase funding for new drugs’: cancer survivors in Hong Kong call for better policies
Cancer Strategy Concern Group will meet health minister to highlight problems of patients ahead of city leader’s address
Some cancer survivors in Hong Kong have formed a new group calling for better health policies such as slashing the waiting time for treatment and increasing funding for new drugs to fight the top killer disease in the city.
Currently patients diagnosed with more common forms of the disease, such as breast cancer, must wait up to two months before receiving their first treatment. It can take public hospitals up to five years to approve a new subsidised drug, according to an earlier report.
“Many cancer patients have died without the time or strength to come out and fight for better policies. This is why we formed the group,” said founder Clement Chan, who battled leukaemia for 18 years.
Another founder, Oliver Woo, who also suffered from leukaemia, said the prolonged wait of up to two months for the first therapy meant patients missed the “golden period” for treatment, increasing the risk of complications.