The Public Committee for the Expansion of the Drug Basket for 2021 will convene for the first time after Sukkot • The committee's budget has not yet been finalized and is under discussion between the ministers
"Even in the corona period - the other areas of health must not be neglected."
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein
Photo:
Jonathan Shaul (Archive)
In the shadow of the health system's deal with the corona and in the absence of a budget, the public committee to expand the drug basket for 2021 will convene for the first time after the holidays.
The committee will be headed by Prof. Shuki Shemer, chairman of Assuta and former director general of the Ministry of Health.
This year, about 900 drugs and technologies were submitted to the drug basket, with a total cost of over NIS 3 billion.
The budget that will be available to the committee has not yet been finally determined and is in discussions between the ministers.
In previous years, it stood at NIS 500 million, and these days there are several attempts by a number of Knesset members to increase it.
The committee is expected to submit its recommendations by December so that the new drugs will be given to patients as early as January.
As we first reported in "Israel Today", there was a desire in the Ministry of Health to postpone the committee's discussions this year due to the corona, but in the end it was decided to make an effort to end them on time.
The Public Committee for the Expansion of the Basket consists of members from various fields: members of the health system (representatives of the Ministry of Health, the HMOs, the hospitals);
Representatives of the Ministry of Finance, and public representatives including: experts from the various fields of medicine, ethics, economics, welfare and other fields.
The coordinator of the committee is Dr. Osnat Luxenburg, director of the medical technology division, who has been doing this since its inception.
The committee bases its discussions on the professional work carried out throughout the year in the Medical Technologies, Information and Research Division of the Ministry of Health, headed by the Head of the Technology Evaluation Division in the basket of services, Tal Morgenstein.
Among the physicians committee:
Dr. Suheir Assadi: internist and nephrologist, director of the Nephrology Department at Rambam
Prof. Yitzhak Shapira: cardiologist, deputy director of Ichilov Medical Center
Prof. Ilan Herman: internist and endocrinologist, former director of the Internal Medicine Department at Soroka Medical Center
Dr. Gadi Neumann: Urologist, Deputy Director of Rabin Medical Center
Public Representatives on the Committee:
Mr. Reuven Kaplan: Economist, Psagot Investment House CEO
Prof. Ruth Landau:
Rebbetzin
Lecturer and Ethicist
Malka Pryotarkovsky: Educator, one of the founders of the "Regulation Forum", lecturer at the Mandel Foundation for
Colonel (Res.) Josslin Bash: Former head of the IDF Department of Casualties
Dr. Lior Katzaf: Chairman of the Dental Association
As we first published, among the 900 drugs and technologies from which the drugs that will enter the basket are selected are drugs for cancer patients, heart disease and rare diseases for children and adults.
Among the drugs to be discussed in the committee is the drug Anharto for breast cancer;
Lottery for neuro-endocrine tumors;
Forsythe for heart failure;
Fostinor for rape victims to prevent or terminate a pregnancy;
Zosthox vaccine against herpes zoster for people 50 and older (currently given to people 60 and older);
Mammography for the extension of eligibility for testing to all women aged 40 and over;
Treatment of nerve irritation for those suffering from depression who do not respond to drug treatment;
"Oncomine" - an innovative genomic test designed for children with cancer of any type;
Linphrase for ovarian, pancreatic and prostate cancer;
"Impinci" for lung cancer, small cells and more.
Health Minister Yuli (Joel) Edelstein said: "Even in the challenging period of the Corona, other areas of health must not be neglected. The State of Israel is committed to providing adequate care for all patients of all types. I will work to increase the medicine basket to allow as many life-saving drugs as possible."
Director General of the Ministry of Health Prof. Hezi Levy: “The Ministry of Health is very busy during this period in demanding management of the fight against the corona plague.
At the same time, it is loyal to its duty to improve and ensure the provision of comprehensive and worthy health services to all citizens and to the duty of the state to take care of everything required for the health system.
I thank the Ministers of Health and Finance for appointing the committee and wish the committee to discuss professionally and better with the patients who are awaiting treatment. "
The committee's chairman, Prof. Shuki Shemer: "It is a great privilege and a great duty to deal with one of the most complex issues of the health system with weighty medical and ethical issues."
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Among the patients awaiting treatment is five-and-a-half-year-old Almog who suffers from a genetic syndrome Emma Liat Lapid: "I am very happy to see that despite the corona, the Ministry of Health still cares for more patients.
Derva syndrome is a drug-resistant genetic syndrome that causes long, prolonged and numerous seizures that lead to developmental and cognitive difficulties and even endanger the lives of children.
Almog has been suffering from the syndrome since the age of one month and since then we have experienced countless seizures and hospitalizations with it.
I very much hope that the drug Epidiolx will enter the health basket, because it significantly reduces seizures and is really a miracle solution for coral. "
From the "5 billion for health" forum, a forum for patients' organizations, state doctors, nurses and nurses, it was reported: "In this period when most public attention is given to Corona, hundreds of thousands of patients with other diseases are often forgotten waiting to receive their cure from new technologies submitted to the basket committee. Because Minister of Health Edelstein and Minister of Finance Katz do not distinguish between a corona patient and a cancer patient, a heart patient or a diabetic patient and will act responsibly and resolutely to adopt the Director of Health's Strategic and Economic Planning's recommendation to increase the drug basket budget to at least NIS 750 million. "Heal and save lives for the sick public who are eagerly awaiting the introduction of the new technologies in the basket."