During an Asia-Pacific Lung Cancer Prevention Summit, Dr. Yang Pan-chyr, academician at Academia Sinica, called for the establishment of a national office on lung cancer and expediting reimbursement of new drugs to better align with international treatment standards. During the event, experts from Japan and Korea also shared their governments’ respective commitment to investment in new drugs.

Takeo Morroka, a former official of Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, highlighted that new drug application permits are typically approved within an average of one year in Japan, with a reimbursement decision given within 60 days without requiring a health technology assessment (HTA). Saerak Jang, a former official of Korea's Health Insurance Review and Assessment Services, also emphasized the Korean government's active efforts to ensure patients’ access to innovative cancer drugs, noting that cancer drugs currently make up 10% of the country's health expenditure, with immunotherapy accounting for 20% of cancer drug expenses.

Wang Cheng-hsu, chairperson of the HOPE Foundation For Cancer Care, said that balance billing can improve patients’ access to innovative treatments, adding that patients could play a more active role in policy decision-making. Formosa Cancer Foundation vice president Tsai Li-chuan called for the establishment of a Cancer Drug Fund (CDF). In response, National Health Insurance Administration Director General Shih Chung-liang promised to accelerate the reimbursement process of new drugs and that in the time being, provisional and temporary reimbursement has been implemented and an office tasked specifically to optimize the HTA process will be established soon. Additionally, funding for new drugs is expected to double next year and amount to around NT$6 billion including provisional and temporary reimbursement. Director General Shih also voiced hopes of drawing new budgets to fund the CDF.

[2023-10-24/Liberty Times]