High Insurance Coverage and Financial Support for Effective Cancer Drugs in I.R. Iran

In recent years, financial coverage and availability of new and expensive
cancer drugs have changed into one of the challenges of the health system, especially
in low-income and middle-income countries,. We studied the availability of
anticancer drugs, insurance coverage and the financial burden of these drugs in Iran.
In this cross-sectional descriptive study, first, we listed effective cancer
drugs according to the World Health Organization’s Model List of Essential Medicines
and previous studies. Then, we evaluated financial burden of these drugs by
using the available data in Iran pharmaceutical Pharmacopoeia, the national pharmaceutical
sales statistics database (pharmaceutical Amarnameh), and inquiry of the
insurance organizations, the availability, insurance coverage in Iran. Excel software
was used for data analysis.
All of the medicines incorporated into the latest version of the WHO Model
List of Essential Medicines were available in Iran, and, except for Bendamustine and
Anastrazole all medicines were covered by insurance. In addition, of the 19 drugs,
those were not on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, there were seven
drugs in Iran, insurance covered that six drugs. The total Dollar sales of the studied
cancer drugs amounted to US$350.85 million in 2015 and US$384.96 million in 2016.
It seems that the status of access to effective cancer drugs in Iran is betterthan many low and middle-income countries. However, since the cost of cancer
drugs is rising, health policy makers inevitably need to prioritize cancer drugs by
using the results of health technology assessment methods and provide patients with
access to drugs that are cost-effective in order to the optimal allocation of limited
resources and provide maximum access to cancer drugs throughout the country.