The National Cancer Institute Foundation yesterday launched a financialdonation programme aimed at patients with advanced liver cancer who cannot undergo surgery or local chemotherapy treatment.
It will help them receive continuous supplies of therapeutic drugs during the advanced treatment.
"This programme focuses on extending the life of hepatocellularcarcinoma patients while lessening their medical costs," said the foundation's director, Dr Thiravud Kuhaprema.
Among cancers, hepatocellular carcinoma or liver cancer is the No 1 cause of death among males and the thirdmostprevalent cause of death for females, following cervical and breast cancer.
The local incidence of liver cancer this year is estimated at 23,000 cases. Of this number, about 20,000 patients succumbed to the disease. Thailand has been ranked as having the fourthhighest livercancer mortality rate in Asia. Mongolia was ranked first, followed by Taiwan and Laos.
"Hepatocellular carcinoma develops quickly before spreading to the blood system. The disease rarely develops symptoms during initial stages until it has reached a level when most patients are diagnosed with advanced disease and usually die within three to six months," Thiravud said.
Apart from the physical implications of the illness, liver cancer deals a severe blow to the emotional and mental state of patients and their relatives.
In addition, they must shoulder heavy medical charges during the treatment period. Most patients at advanced stages need consistent anticancer therapy for more than three months, costing about Bt600,000 in total, or Bt200,000 a month.
Under the new programme - called the "hepatocellular carcinoma patient aid programme using innovative treatment approaches" - which is supported by Bayer Thai, patients with hepatocellular carcinoma can now register with the National Cancer Institute Foundation to receive the target therapy.
The programme has set a ceiling for medical costs at Bt600,000, after which the patient will be eligible for the drugs for the remainder of their lives, the remainder of the treatment period, or until the physician deems it appropriate to discontinue medication, without any additional charge.
"This allows the patients to estimate charges from the treatment and control overall costs accurately, compared with times when patients could not forecast costs," he said.
After the registration, patients will be diagnosed by a physician to evaluate the course of treatment. First they will receive a box of drugs to use for two weeks. Patients can stop the course of treatment but they must pay Bt100,000 to the programme. If they respond well to the drug and continue to use it over three months, the amount due will be limited to Bt600,000.