BREATHING IN A NEW ERA
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LUNG CANCER POLICIES ACROSS EUROPEEnsuring access to biomarker testing and enabling patients to obtain improved access to innovative
therapies is one step. Certainly, meeting the costs of expensive medications while not reimbursing
for the (relatively) less expensive biomarker tests seems counterproductive. More generally, it is not
necessarily a case of just spending more money, as there is not always more money to spend. But
participants in our workshops were very keen that key players, including manufacturers, policymakers
and HTA organisations, worked together to find regulatory and reimbursement models that share risk
and help to get innovations to patients more quickly. Access is a whole other topic area—one that is
beyond the scope of this report—but one thing is certain: delays between marketing authorisation and
availability to patients have a very real impact on today ’s patients and their families.
De-stigmatise the disease through education, awareness
and compassion
Stigma remains an issue. Patients with lung cancer often get the feeling that whoever they speak to
is thinking the same thing: that in some way, as the patient, it is their fault. Sometimes, patients agree
with this assessment, and so do not feel worthy of receiving high-quality and possibly expensive care.
This delays diagnosis and leads to unnecessary suffering.
Reducing negative attitudes and fatalistic thinking, while promoting anti-smoking efforts, can help
to reduce stigma at both a professional level and in society at large.18, 66 It is encouraging that several
countries covered in this research appear to be looking into how stigma and its associated barriers to
good care can be reduced.
Finding solutions to address stigma and ensuring that patients receive the psychological, supportive
and palliative care that they need, is vitally important. Certainly, other diseases have faced or continue
to face negative stigmas, and the strategies used in those cases may be adapted for use in lung cancer.
It is time that all people with lung cancer are treated with compassion and dignity.