In recent years, there has been considerable progress in expanding the range of treatments available and improving the prognosis for those with blood cancer. While we all eagerly await the arrival of the latest cellular therapies that will allow people with myeloma and other types of blood cancers to live beyond the dreams they secretly had at the time of diagnosis—and that they only dare to dream come true—patients fear for their future.
We know that there will be a price to pay for access to these innovative therapies: first for the health system, since they are very expensive, but also for patients who will find themselves victims of discretionary choices due to lack of staff, resources and budget. From coast to coast, patients with blood cancer are faced with a fait accompli, while due to a lack of nursing staff, their treatments are delayed, increasing the risk of complications and jeopardizing their success and survival.
Staff shortages also force some patients to fly to another province for blood tests and cancer treatment. The lack of specialized resources limits access to the best available treatments and forces some doctors to favor one therapy over another or to reduce the period of access.
And what about the financial distress that coexists today with so many households that previously did not have to worry about whether they could put food on the table and pay the rent. Today, people who are affected by cancer cannot afford the bus fare that will take them to the hospital to receive the treatment they need to live and continue to contribute actively to our society. Some of these people choose not to continue their treatment, unable to take time off work or not even daring to announce their diagnosis for fear of losing their job.
People with blood cancer are now offered the best of science and the worst of bureaucracy.
Despite the tremendous progress in research and the incredible number of new breakthrough therapies approved, many patients do not have access to them and are directly victims of the crumbling of our health care systems. This danger that awaits them is just one example of what awaits the Canadian population affected by cancer if our governments do not decide to act in a concerted manner to solve the problems that make our health care systems sick, that force our doctors to make heartbreaking choices, and that force our fellow citizens to neglect their health at the risk of their lives.
Blood cancer patients are witnesses to our failure to embrace health innovation and keep pace with the science that will ensure our survival. For all those who feel as we do that the system has failed to protect this increasingly vulnerable population, we hope that our governments will heed our call to action today.
Tomorrow, it will be too late.