ESMO working to improve the availability of anti-cancer medicines in in Europe and worldwide
The availability of cancer medicines is crucial for medical oncologists to be able to treat patients according to the evidence-based ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines.
As a follow-up to the ESMO studies on the availability of opioids for cancer pain management, ESMO conducted a European and international study on the availability of anti-neoplastic medicines based on feedback from ESMO members and oncology pharmacists.
Read the ESMO European and International study publications by clicking on the links in the boxes below.
Study objectives
- To provide health authorities with data on the availability of licensed anti-neoplastic medicines
- To report on the actual availability of anti-neoplastic medicines to patients when they are prescribed and when patients can afford them
- To provide data so that policy makers can decide how to best address and resolve the challenges identified
Study results
The ESMO studies showed that internationally there is a growing disparity between licensed anti-cancer medicines and those that are actually available, leading to medicines shortages.
Data from the ESMO studies was valuable to the World Health Organization, who cited the studies as the most comprehensive assessment on the availability of cancer medicines globally in the 2018 WHO Technical Report on the pricing of cancer medicines and its impacts.