Pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, has partnered with the American Cancer Society, as well as the Clinton Health Access Initiative to close the patient affordability gap and increase patient access to oncology treatments.
In a statement signed by the Country Manager and Cluster Lead West Africa at Pfizer, Olayinka Subair, the partnership aims to reduce the price of 16 priority and quality-assured medicines by almost 50 per cent in six countries in Africa.
The statement reads in part, “To close the patient affordability gap and increase patient access to the much-needed oncology treatments, we partnered the American Cancer Society and the Clinton Health Access Initiative on a groundbreaking market access agreement for access to cancer treatments. The aim is to reduce the price of 16 priority and quality-assured medicines by almost 50 per cent in six countries in Africa. Since the launch of the programme in 2019, several patients have accessed life-saving chemotherapy treatment.”
The pharmaceutical company also launched a patient assistance programme titled, ‘Project Afya’, adding that Project Afya is particularly significant for Nigeria due to the rate of breast, cervical and prostate cancer.
It said, “Pfizer also launched Project Afya, a patient assistance program aimed at improving access to life-saving medications and boosting cancer care and autoimmune disease management. Project Afya is supporting patients suffering from two disease areas namely oncology (specifically breast cancer) and rheumatoid arthritis in low income urban and rural areas. In partnership with IQVIA, the platform is helping to reduce therapy costs for eligible patients with the support of the government’s health insurance in collaboration with key partners such as NGOs and charities.
“Project Afya is particularly significant for a country such as Nigeria where research1 shows that breast cancer accounts for 16.4 per cent of the cancer mortality rate, followed by cervical cancer (12 per cent) and prostate cancer (11 per cent) and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid is a significant medical overburdened Nigeria, affecting mostly women.
“Project Afya is aimed at alleviating some of the pressure on the country’s already overburdened healthcare system, where large numbers of people need greater access to specialized medicines. Addressing this healthcare gap will go a long way towards improving treatment outcomes.”
