News

“Movement Against Cancer” published “White Book” for 2014

18.02.2015

It records cases of refusal to provide cancer patients with anti-tumour drugs. This is the sixth edition of the White Book.

As a result of work in 2014, the conclusions are obvious: hundreds of people in Russia still die even not from cancer, but from being unable to receive treatment. Measures taken to improve the quality of cancer care are certainly important, but they still can't solve the main problem - the availability of medicines to all who need them. Doctors do not prescribe drugs, if there are no drugs in the pharmacy, the pharmacies, in their turn, often don’t accept prescriptions for deferred service. This is done in order to hide the deficit and not to solve the problem. In the end, people wait for days, weeks, months, knowing that every minute their disease progresses and no one is fighting for their life. They are forced to sell the property or to ask for donations in order to survive, although the government has made a promise to treat all and absolutely free of charge within the framework and scope of the system of state guarantees of free medical care. We help people in this situation, we get free treatment prescribed to them by law.
It’s possible to inform about the facts of refusal to provide drugs on the website of the «Movement Against Cancer» by filling in the application form (http://www.rakpobedim.ru/otkazali-v-lekarstvakh/).
First, there were dozens of requests for help, then their number increased to hundreds. By October 31, 2014, at the time of preparation for printing of this edition, more than 700 requests of patients were received only by electronic communication. And that's not counting other forms of applying to the «Movement Against Cancer» and in its regional offices from Petrozavodsk to Vladivostok. The sad leadership in terms of number of complaints about refusal in providing drugs for several years in a row is taken by the Moscow region: 235 applications as of October 2014. The received requests are not just soulless figures and data. These are real tragic stories. The “White Book” has a lot of citations from letters and requests.
To help patients to get drugs, «Movement Against Cancer» concluded with the Federal Service on Surveillance in Healthcare an agreement on joint efforts. All questionnaires of patients are processed and sent to Roszdravnadzor.
Fortunately, in most cases, the patient's problem can be solved. In some regions branches of the «Movement Against Cancer» cooperate directly with the territorial bodies of Roszdravnadzor, which allows delivering more prompt assistance. Often, when the situation requires, questionnaires are also sent to the local health authorities, governors and prosecutors.
To download the “White Book”:
www.rakpobedim.ru/about/broshjury-dvizhenija/