One Australian dies of lung cancer every hour, and only 15 percent of lung cancer patients are still alive five years after the diagnosis. But now the federal government has announced that the inclusion of Keytruda, an antilung cancer drug, in the (PBS), program is a boon for patients.
According to the Daily Telegraph, starting November 1, at least 850 patients with advanced lung cancer will be able to buy the usual A $11,299 per prescription or Keytruda., a one hundred and eighty eight thousand-year anti-cancer drug, at a low price. Eligible patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer will be able to purchase the drug at a maximum price of A $40 per prescription, and patients with preferential cards will be able to buy as low as A $6.4.
The drug is designed to work with the patient`s own immune system to eliminate cancer cells in the human body. Keytruda has been used to treat Hodgkin`s lymphoma and advanced melanoma.
In addition, more than 6000 patients with familial hypercholesterolemia, an inherited hypercholesterolemia disease, will benefit from the government`s newly updated drug welfare program. The government`s latest list of drug welfare plans has been included in the cholesterol-lowering drug Repatha. This means that, from Nov. 1, those who are extremely vulnerable to heart attacks or strokes in their youth will be able to buy the drug cheaply.
Health Secretary Hunt (Greg Hunt) said the government is updating the list of drug benefits on average every day to subsidize all drugs recommended by independent medical experts.
The health minister said immunotherapy will be one of the next major breakthroughs in health care, a new frontier in medicine that brings hope to patients and will save millions of patients` lives. Hunter said the government will always implement the drug welfare plan.
