ArticleBMJ global health2019
Evaluating access to essential medicines for treating childhood cancers: a medicines availability, price and affordability study in New Delhi, India.
Article in BMJ global health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impacts of National Reimbursement Drug Price Negotiation on drug accessibility, utilization, and cost in China: a systematic review.International journal for equity in health · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Global, regional and national availability of essential medicines for children, 2009-2020: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- Availability, Affordability, Access, and Pricing of Anti-cancer Medicines in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review of Literature.Frontiers in public health · 2021Pooled it
- Gaps in access and trust: essential medicine availability, affordability, and barriers to generic medicine use.Public health action · 2026Article
- Exploring factors affecting access to non-communicable disease medicines in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Examining the cost of outpatient care for female patients: insights from private healthcare services.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Article
- Availability of essential medicines for non-communicable diseases: a scoping review of challenges and opportunities.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Access to pediatric oncology medicine in Iran: a cross-sectional survey in Urmia.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Real world outcomes with Tepotinib in a series of Indian patients with MET exon 14 skipping positive non-small cell lung cancer.Ecancermedicalscience · 2025Article
- Utilization and Determinants of Anticancer Drugs Under China's National Drug Price Negotiation Policy.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2025Article
- Medicine availability and affordability for paediatric cancers, China.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2025Article
- Financial burden faced by breastfeeding mothers caring for children diagnosed with cancer in Ghana; an exploratory qualitative study.BMC women's health · 2024Article
- Article
- Comparative treatment costs of risk-stratified therapy for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in India.Cancer medicine · 2023Article
- Article
- A comprehensive survey of cancer medicines prices, availability and affordability in Ghana.PloS one · 2023Article
- Access to and Affordability of World Health Organization Essential Medicines for Cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa: Examples from Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.The oncologist · 2022Article
- Catastrophic expenditure and treatment attrition in patients seeking comprehensive colorectal cancer treatment in India: A prospective multicentre study.The Lancet regional health. Southeast Asia · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionLimited access to essential medicines (EMs) for treating chronic diseases is a major challenge in low-income and middle-income countries. Although India is the largest manufacturer of generic medicines, there is a paucity of information on availability, price and affordability of anti-neoplastic EMs, which this study evaluates.
methodsUsing a modified WHO/Health Action International methodology, data were collected on availability and price of 33 strength-specific anti-neoplastic EMs and 4 non-cancer EMs. Seven 'survey anchor' hospitals (4 public and 3 private) and 32 private-sector retail pharmacies were surveyed. Median price ratios (MPRs) were calculated by comparing consumer prices with international reference prices (IRPs).
resultsOn average, across survey anchor areas (hospital and private-sector retail pharmacies combined), the mean availability of anti-neoplastic EMs and non-cancer medicines was 70% and 100%, respectively. Mean availability of anti-neoplastic EMs was 38% in private-sector retail pharmacies, 43% in public hospital pharmacies and 71% in private hospital pharmacies. Median MPR of lowest-priced generic versions was 0.71 in retail pharmacies. The estimated cost of chemotherapy medicines needed for treating a 30 kg child with standard-risk leukaemia was INR 27 850 (US$442) and INR 17 500 (US$278) for Hodgkin's lymphoma, requiring 88 and 55 days' wages, respectively, for the lowest paid government worker.
conclusionMost anti-neoplastic EMs are found in survey anchor areas, however, mean availability was less than non-cancer medicines; not meeting the WHO target of 80%. Medicine prices were relatively low in New Delhi compared with IRPs. However, the cost of chemotherapy medicines seems unaffordable in the local context.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.