Joint effort to aid cancer patients

Public-private partnerships have the potential to virtually eliminate long waiting times for cancer treatment in the state sector, the head of private health service provider GVI Oncology told delegates at the Voice of Cancer Survivor Forum last week. The forum focused on ways of generating more attention for cancer along with tackling issues confronting patients.

GVI Oncology CEO Deon Gouws said public-private partnerships were the way to go to increase access to care for cancer patients. He said the public sector had six academic centres and five regional treatment centres, 32 radiation machines, and 45 radiation oncologists. By contrast, the private sector had 30 treatment centres, 38 machines, and 90 radiation oncologists.

Gouws said the private sector treated less than a tenth of cancer patients, as half of SA's 8-million medical scheme members belonged to cheaper plans that would pay only for treatment in the state sector. Gouws advocated changes to the medicine pricing regulations, saying the high cost of oncology drugs in the private sector put treatment out of the reach of many private sector patients and medical schemes.

Cancer drugs were up to four times cheaper in the public sector, he said. GVI Oncology has just concluded a public-private partnership agreement with the Western Cape provincial health department for radiation therapy for cancer patients who live in and around George. It means patients will no longer have to travel to Cape Town for treatment, thus avoiding the inconvenience of having to take extensive time off work.

They are also likely to get treatment sooner. GVI Oncology had spare capacity in its George facility, which typically saw between 30 and 40 patients a day, according to its chief operating officer Erhart Korf. It had the potential to treat up to 55 patients a day. Under the terms of the public-private partnership, GVI Oncology will charge the state fees that are less than those paid by private patients, Korf said, declining to provide figures. GVI Oncology anticipated treating up to seven state patients a day in George, he said.

The company hopes to expand the public-private partnership to include its facilities in Kimberley and Nelspruit. Western Cape health MEC Theuns Botha has promoted the concept of public-private partnerships since he was appointed two years ago, seeing them as a way to relieve some of the burden on the state sector.

Pink Drive, which provides free breast cancer screening and mammograms, recently began working in government clinics in Cape Town. Pink Drive uses the fees paid by corporate clients to subsidise the free services it offers state patients, said director Noelene Kotschan.

Tamar Kahn: Business Day, 16 May 2011