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Patients await a decision on their fate: The drug basket committee convenes today
After a one-month delay and an additional NIS 50 million, the committee began marathon discussions in which they will decide which of the 900 drugs and technologies will enter the drug basket.
5-year-old Muhammad with a unique illness, Noa who suffers from CF and Sarah who was diagnosed with scleroderma - all, like many others - are awaiting her decision
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Health basket
Drug Basket Committee
Israel Katz
July Edelstein
Ministry of Health
diabetes mellitus
Medicines
Meirav Cohen
Monday, 08 February 2021, 08:45
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Fateful decisions.
(Photo: ShutterStock)
After a month's delay in the marathon discussions in the drug basket committee, committee members meet today (Monday) and tomorrow to discuss which of the 900 new drugs and technologies, with an estimated cost of three billion shekels, will enter the drug basket of 2021. This year Finance Minister Israel Katz and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein Increase the budget by 50 million and allocate 550 million shekels.
Discussions were delayed due to the Corona crisis, which led to the cancellation of many meetings due to the closures.
This year there is a novelty in the basket, with committee members deciding to include several anti-diabetic drugs as a single package so that diabetes will be ‘priced’ as a disease, rather than by drug.
So far, diabetes drugs have only been given to the most expensive insurances offered by the HMOs, and not through the drug basket because they are relatively cheap.
This year, diabetes will make its debut as a drug association.
The distribution of the budget varies this year due to delays - the basket budget is divided according to the months of the year, but this time the proposal will reach the government only in late February.
The committee will need to discuss how to use the budget surpluses it has and prioritize sums for trial, research or testing on a one-time basis.
In 2022 the full budget will enter in a regulated manner.
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The convening of the committee was postponed due to the closures.
Health Minister Edelstein (Photo: Official Website, Shmulik Grossman / Knesset Spokeswoman)
Many patients are awaiting the committee's decision, including Jamal Abu Sabih, the father of 5-year-old Muhammad who has a genetic disease called Morkio, from which other children in the Bedouin sector suffer.
The disease is life-threatening and causes, among other things, difficulty walking and breathing, distortions in appearance and severe mental pain.
The only way to prevent the disease from getting worse is through a drug called Vimizim, which is given by subcutaneous injection.
Jamal does not have the ability to finance the medicine, which is not in the medicine basket, and the general health insurance fund to which he belongs does not give it to him. The case is not unique to Jamal - other Bedouin families dealing with the disease find themselves helpless, with the only solution It is the health basket.The drug has been on the committee's discussions for six years in a row, receives a high rating from professionals, but does not get to enter the basket because it is particularly expensive and since the disease is not common in Israel.
The drug has been on the agenda for 6 years in a row but is not allowed to enter, Muhammad (Photo: courtesy of the family)
Noa Tal Alon, 35, and a mother of two, is also awaiting the committee's sentence.
She has cystic fibrosis - a progressive disease that affects all body systems and especially the respiratory system.
The life expectancy of CF patients stands at 40 years but this year a drug called Tricapta was presented to the basket, which can extend the life of the patients by 20 years.
Noa, a lecturer in the Department of Education at the Ono Academic Campus, says she never dared to imagine that she could be a part of her daughters' future.
Today she is receiving the treatment as part of a study that will soon be completed, but if the drug enters the basket, her prospects for the future will become possible.
If the drug enters the basket, its prospects for the future will become possible.
Noa Tal Alon (Photo: Courtesy of those photographed)
Sara Shoham, 54, from Ness Ziona, discovered about two years ago that she had a disease called scleroderma.
But when the disease was discovered, it was discovered that it was already in advanced stages, and that Sarah was suffering from a fatal complication of the disease called SSc-ILD.
The complication leads to severe lung injury, which scars the lung and leads to rapid deterioration without adequate treatment.
Now, a candidate for a treatment basket called OFEV, a one-of-a-kind treatment that has been research-proven to be effective for lung disease, and as such significantly slows down the deterioration of lung injury.
Sarah, a mother of three daughters and a grandmother to her granddaughter, prays that the treatment will go into the basket, as she currently does not have effective treatment for dealing with the disease.
Praying that the treatment will enter the basket.
Sarah Shoham (Photo: Courtesy of the photographers)
Rotem Farber, 22, from Ahuzat Barak and a B-type hemophilia patient, says his illness is "the kind that causes a lot of unexpected bleeding due to a lack of a blood-clotting gene. Any bleeding for me is life-threatening. "I have a 'factor', a shot that stops bleeding. Throughout my life, there have been a lot of spontaneous bleeding that interfered with my daily routine and even those that harmed my future."
"The drug will provide life with less danger and anxiety and more sanity."
Rotem Farber (Photo: Courtesy of those photographed)
Farber says only one drug helps stop the bleeding: "Adelion. With it I can lead a normal life like all my peers. I am hopeful that the drug will be approved and give me and my sufferers the option of living with less danger and anxiety and more sanity."
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