Simonyan Tamara, Papyan Ruzanna, Danielyan Samvel, Sargsyan Lilit, Grigoryan Varduhi, Topchyan Hakob, Azaryan Arpina, Tananyan Armen, Muradyan Armen, Tamamyan Gevorg
American University of Armenia, School of Public Health, Yerevan, Armenia.
Yerevan State Medical University, Yerevan, Armenia. Email:
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2019 Apr 29;20(4):991-994. doi: 10.31557/APJCP.2019.20.4.991.
Background: One of the main contributors in low survival rate in LMIC is the lack of availability of cancer medications for curative, supportive and palliative care. In many developing countries access to cytotoxic medicine is a major challenge. The information about the availability of essential medicines for pediatric cancer in the country is not known. The main objective of this study was to determine whether the medications used during the treatment of pediatric cancer are available in Armenia. Methods: In summer 2016 we conducted a survey in the 3 main pharmacies in Yerevan, which import pediatric cancer medications to Armenia to evaluate whether medications used during cancer treatment are officially registered and available in the country. In addition, the information on official registration was cross-checked with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia (MOH). Simultaneously, detailed information about the drugs, on type of produced drug company, doses and price intervals was confined from the price lists of the national drug importer companies. Results: The survey included 64 agents in three classes of medication: anti-neoplastics, anti-microbials, and drugs used in supportive care. All of these medications were included in the recent version of the WHO model list of essential medicines. From 30 anti-neoplastic medications on the essential medicines list 22 (73%) were officially registered in Armenia; from 19 anti-microbial drugs all were registered except caspofungin and from 15 supportive care agents 13 (87%) were registered. From registered anti-neoplastic drugs 18% and from antimicrobial drugs 33% were not available in the drug stores. Conclusion: This study showed that not all the drugs from the SIOP PODC Essential Medication list for pediatric oncology are officially registered and available in Armenia, and effective drug regulation focusing on the childhood cancer care medicine is needed for improving the situation in the country.
低收入和中等收入国家生存率低的主要原因之一是缺乏用于治愈、支持和姑息治疗的癌症药物。在许多发展中国家，获得细胞毒性药物是一项重大挑战。该国儿科癌症基本药物的可获得性信息尚不清楚。本研究的主要目的是确定亚美尼亚是否有用于治疗儿科癌症的药物。方法：2016年夏季，我们在埃里温的3家主要药房进行了一项调查，这些药房向亚美尼亚进口儿科癌症药物，以评估癌症治疗中使用的药物是否在该国正式注册并可获得。此外，关于官方注册的信息与亚美尼亚共和国卫生部（MOH）进行了交叉核对。同时，从国家药品进口公司的价格清单中获取了有关药品的详细信息，包括生产药品公司的类型、剂量和价格区间。结果：该调查涵盖了三类药物中的64种药物：抗肿瘤药、抗菌药和支持治疗用药。所有这些药物均被列入世界卫生组织最新版基本药物示范清单。基本药物清单上的30种抗肿瘤药物中，有22种（73%）在亚美尼亚正式注册；19种抗菌药物中，除卡泊芬净外均已注册，15种支持治疗药物中有13种（87%）已注册。在注册的抗肿瘤药物中，18%在药店无法获得，抗菌药物中这一比例为33%。结论：本研究表明，并非国际小儿肿瘤学会儿科肿瘤学PODC基本药物清单中的所有药物在亚美尼亚都已正式注册并可获得，需要针对儿童癌症治疗药物进行有效的药物监管，以改善该国的情况。
