Student publishes research on funding for rare disease treatment

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Decisions to fund expensive treatments for rare diseases
shouldn't be made on a one-off basis that leaves countless patients
without treatment, says Abbas Panju, DeGroote School of Business co-op MBA student.

Panju discusses different alternatives for creating policies around
expensive treatments in his analysis Share

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<br><br />
Decisions to fund expensive treatments for rare diseases <br />
shouldn&#039;t be made on a one-off basis that leaves countless patients <br />
without treatment, says Abbas Panju, DeGroote School of Business co-op MBA student.<br />
<br />
Panju discusses different alternatives for creating policies around <br />
expensive treatments in his analysis <a href="http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/rapidpdf/cmaj.081429v1?<br />
maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=abbas+panju&searchid=1&FIRST<br />
INDEX=0&sortspec=date&resourcetype=HWCIT">"Policy Alternatives for <br />
Treatments for Rare Diseases"</a>, which was recently published by the <br />
Canadian Medical Association Journal. He is lead author of the <br />
article.<br />
<br />
"Canada is among the few developed countries that does not have a <br />
framework in place to provide and fund orphan drugs," said Panju. "We have proposed a workable framework for the near- and long-term to address this gap.  It is important to recognize that it&#039;s not just a matter of the government saying that these drugs will be funded - rather, it is also about recognizing, first, that Canadians  with rare diseases must be adequately represented in our health care system, and second, that alternative mechanisms to drug approvals in Canada need to be explored." <br />
<br />
Access to treatment for rare diseases has been disputed by Canadian <br />
health care professionals and patients for years.  Without a formal <br />
policy, there are not enough financial incentives for drug companies <br />
to obtain approval for these products in Canada, leaving patients no <br />
way of getting certain drugs or having to pay excessive amounts for <br />
them.<br />
<br />
According to Panju, the number of Canadians with rare diseases <br />
continues to grow.<br />
<br />
"These individuals are entitled to the same level of care as you or I. Through no fault of their own, they are faced with exorbitant drug costs - if, in fact, there is a treatment for their disease. We hope that our work will prompt decision-makers to shed light on this issue, and build on the work that has already been done in Parliament to urge the development of legislation for the manufacture and funding of these important treatments."<br />
<br />
Panju hopes that patients with rare diseases will receive treatment <br />
equal to those patients with more common ailments in the near future.<br />
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