"I would ask the PSOE how much the life of a woman with metastatic breast cancer is worth"

• Oncology "Metastasis is a completely different reality because you know that now you are not going to be cured, your life and your survival depend on the new treatments that come out"

• Research They identify 'sleeping' triple negative breast cells that control their metastases

Today marks

.

The association that represents these patients (AECMM), unique in Spain and in Europe, has prepared endless events, including a silent concentration in the Congress of Deputies where it will also present a manifesto on the needs of these patients .

And it does so after the government party, the PSOE, has been the only one to have voted against accelerating the deadlines for innovative drugs, already approved in Europe, to reach our country and be incorporated into the National Health System. (SNS) within a reasonable period of time, not exceeding 180 days as established by European regulations.

Pilar Fernández,

and also a patient, is willing to reach out to Pedro Sánchez and ask the Socialist Party "how much the life of a metastatic breast cancer patient is worth."

Each year, more than 36,000 cases of this tumor are diagnosed in Spain

.

A percentage that rises to

.

Last July, a resolution proposal presented by JuntsxCat was voted on, which, among other points, urged the Government to speed up the authorization deadlines and incorporation into the SNS of drugs already approved by the European Union to treat metastatic cancer.

What was the result? Pilar Calvo, from the Plural Group (JuntsxCat), lent us a hand and presented the proposal with all the information that we were providing them and we told them that European regulations were not being complied with here.

This legislation establishes that the term for authorization and incorporation of a new drug into health systems must not exceed 180 days.

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When the time came for the vote, all the groups, including PP, Vox and Bildu, voted in favor.

Only the PSOE voted against.

We know that the approval of this proposed resolution is not binding, but

.

It was an unprecedented vote. What explanation do they give from the Socialist Party? They said that they could not finance all the drugs.

And we didn't want them to;

They are not the ones who do it, although they are the ones who have to give the money, of course.

I told them, 'Gentlemen, we are not asking for all drugs to be approved.'

There is one for triple negative breast cancer that is improving patients a lot.

It is the most aggressive tumor, which affects very young women, around 30 or 35 years old, and which has very few lines of treatment.

If you add to these patients, who are triple negative, that they are metastatic, then the situation is very serious.

There is one in particular, Trodelvy, marketed by Gilead, approved in all European countries, the last one in Italy, which is normally behind us, and not here. What percentage of these innovative drugs reach Spain? 59% of those approved by the European Medicines Agency, while in Germany they are 89% or 80% in France and Italy.

It is very curious that we are the country that recruits the most for research projects and the fourth in the world, and yet

.

This is inadmissible.

What we ask is that these deadlines be shortened. The petition also reached the Senate, the Health Commission, where it did not prosper thanks to the refusal of the PSOE, which has a majority. It is a question of money and they insist that can finance all drugs.

But the truth is that

: all deadlines have been skipped, joint purchases have been made, bureaucratic procedures have been skipped... and in a few months everyone has been vaccinated. What would you say to the PSOE? I would ask how much a life is worth.

.

Cancer is also a pandemic and it will continue to grow impressively until 2030.

.

Don't talk to me about cost-benefit, please, or cost-effectiveness.

I can put in front of you many colleagues in their 30s and 40s with metastatic breast cancer;

who dare to look them in the eye and tell them how much their lives are worth.

I would also tell them that

.

We look to Europe for many things;

Let's look at this one too.

We have always sold that we have the best health system in the world and we have boasted about it, but it is clear that there is something we are doing wrong.

You cannot have the best healthcare in the world when patients do not receive the drugs that can improve their quality of life and save them.

Are there currently drugs in the SNS for these treatments? Yes, but innovative drugs are continually coming out and are aimed at precision oncology, the side effects are attenuated and they allow us to have a better quality of life.

These are personalized treatments.

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Where the bottleneck is for the SNS to finance them, once the drugs are approved, is in the Interministerial Commission of Prices Reimbursement.

To all this are added, in addition, the territorial inequalities not only between autonomous communities, but also between hospitals of the same autonomy. What else do you plan to do? I am going to ask directly for a meeting with Pedro Sánchez, I have nothing to lose.

A year ago, Ángela, the 10-year-old daughter of one of our colleagues who is ill, sent him a letter asking for help for her mother, who no longer had drugs, and for those patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Sánchez asked for the address of that girl and her mother to answer them.

On the 19th, breast cancer day, he appeared with his pink bow and said: 'To you, Angela, and to your mother and to all the breast cancer patients,

.'

I shared the video tagging the president and I reminded him by telling him that he

when his party voted against the proposed resolution that we presented in Congress and I asked him to reconsider and give one step back.

Not all cancer is pink or has a happy ending. Does your association have the support of other entities? We are a small association but we are taking giant steps.

We do not have the support of any oncology group or any large association;

everyone is quiet.

We are not mentioned.

I have had breast cancer for more than 30 years and the last six with metastasis, am I a loser?

We are women with metastatic breast cancer and we want our space.

For this reason, today we are going to illuminate many places with the colors that represent our disease and our association and that are not pink.

Metastatic breast cancer has to stop being a neglected disease.

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We want to stop being a forgotten pathology.

That not all cancer is 'pink' or has a happy ending;

there are other realities that are much harsher. What events have you prepared for this day? At 10:30 am we will hold a silent rally at the gates of the Congress of Deputies.

At three in the afternoon the institutional act will begin in Congress.

They have allowed the entry of colleagues who have been accredited but they cannot do so with the shirts.

There we will present the

and we will present the

.

In the afternoon, the Cibeles and Madrid City Hall will be illuminated with the colors of our association.

Also in other communities such as Murcia or Andalusia there will be lighting in different places.

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• breast cancer

• Europe

• Congress of Deputies

• Pedro Sanchez

• Senate

• Government of Spain

• European Union

• cancer