Infarmed approved in March the public funding of a new treatment for bladder cancer that combines two medications. This innovative treatment demonstrated significant results in a clinical trial, having reduced the relative risk of death by 49% compared to conventional chemotherapy.
Bladder cancer patients who wish to access this therapy at Hospital Santa Maria are currently waiting. The hospital told Expresso that the treatment is still in a "process of introduction", not yet available to patients.
The Infarmed approval represents an important advance in the treatment of this disease, offering new hope to patients. However, the delay in practical implementation at the Lisbon hospital has generated concern among patients and their families.
The treatment combines two medications and is based on clinical evidence that proved its superior efficacy to traditional chemotherapy in terms of survival. The effective availability of this medication now depends on the administrative and logistical processes of introduction into the health system.
