Cancer : the French under-estimate the cost of treatment

arsenisspyros/epictura

Published the 08.09.2017 at 15: 50

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Keywords :

cancerimmunothérapiesdépenses of santéAssurance disease

Treat a cancer, it is expensive. The French agree. But this knowledge hides a fundamental misunderstanding of the real price of this disease. According to the latest Observatory cancer the Institut Curie (1), only a minority of the population is actually aware of the expenses occasioned by a cancer.

In France, 3 million people are living with a malignant tumor. Each year, more than 380 000 cases are diagnosed. A non-negligible part of the population is so concerned, especially if one includes the loved ones.

Of the French in the error

The French may well be concerned they are struggling to evaluate the cost of the treatment of this disease. Only a quarter of them cited the good range for the price of chemotherapy : 5 200 31 200 euros, depending on the molecule used. The same proportion think that such treatment represents less than € 500 per patient.

And the ignorance doesn’t stop there. When asked about the price of clinical trials or one-day hospitalization in cancer, the respondents are again in error. They underestimate in the majority of cases.

Source : Institut Curie

A growing cost of

The balance sheet is not so much more positive when one is interested in the knowledge of innovative treatments, such as immunotherapies. Two-thirds of those surveyed did not manage to correctly estimate their cost.

A course of immunotherapy requires an expenditure of between 80 000 and 116 000 euros. Only 3 % of the French questioned the know. This is not the fault of the media coverage is sufficient. Regularly, patients ‘ associations and scholarly societies are speaking out against the bill exorbitant that cause these new molecules.

Source : Institut Curie