Is cancer treatment truly better abroad?
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Politicians of any country are often broadcasting about huge success achieved by domestic healthcare system. We can hear from the TV screens how life expectancy rises rapidly, how advanced clinics save patients with the most dangerous diseases. Meanwhile, have you seen at least somebody from the state’s officials getting treatment at home, in a country with the low level of healthcare?
Everyone who has enough means to do that goes for treatment abroad, right after some serious illness like oncology gets them. The question is why?
Content
- Contrast between cancer treatment in developed and developing states
- Oncology disadvantages in developing states
- Why is it better to treat cancer abroad?
- Treatment abroad with Booking Health
Contrast between cancer treatment in developed and developing states
Even the loudest slogans cannot prevail over dry, silent, but such convincing figures. These are disappointing: a third of the patients die within the first year in developing countries after being diagnosed with cancer. Another third dies within the following year. Only few get a chance to cure completely and live a long life. Those are happy to be lucky to find a tumor at the early stage.
"Cancer" sounds like a death sentence in the developing countries. However, people live for decades with cancer in the prosperous states and Europe is among them. For instance, a patient suffering from mammary gland cancer with metastases lives more than 10 years on average in Germany. Patients with the same diagnosis live about 2 years in the developing countries.
Oncology disadvantages in developing states
A person has minimum chances to live a long and happy life in the countries with low level of healthcare if he or she was diagnosed with cancer. Why is that so? Here are basic cons of low-budget oncology:
Low technological equipment. One of the effective techniques towards the tumor is radiation therapy. But, it is prescribed only to 30% of patients in the developing states. Problem is that hospitals just don’t have any equipment to do the high-tech radiation therapy able to destroy cancer and not the healthy tissues.
At the same time, in the Western world they actively use:
- Intraoperative contact radiation therapy
- Intensively modulated radiation therapy
- Selective radiotherapy
- Radioimmunotherapy
While in developing countries only a small number of medical institutions use a Gamma Knife or a Cyberknife to treat central nervous system tumors, in Europe these methods have ceased to be considered innovative. German hospitals are actively implementing proton therapy which is a more acute and safer technique, but it is also more expensive. That’s why, for the most countries it is an inaccessible way to remove tumors.
Poor quality of diagnostics. Detection of the tumor at the early stages allows curing cancer completely. Besides, high-precision research methods can detect all tumor sites for their effective removal if a widespread oncologic process is present in the body.
However, diagnostics is also a great issue in the developing countries. There are almost no high-precision techniques. Even MRIs are very rare in some countries. Positron emission tomography is not even worth talking about it as the majority of patients don’t have access to it. A number of high-precision techniques are not used in some countries at all.
Inaccessibility of innovative treatment methods. New medicines, new procedures, new approaches to cancer treatment are being developed in the prosperous countries. It takes a long time for these means to come to other states.Oncology of the developing countries lags behind the Western one for 10-20 years. In Germany they use methods of cancer treatment which are not even known in the rest of the world. We don’t even mention their practical use.
Failure to follow protocols. Many drugs invented in Germany are also registered in other countries. They are included into the medical care provision protocols for the patients with oncologic pathologies. These protocols are often the same as European ones. The problem is that German recommendations of the Ministry of Health are observed in Germany, while in the developing countries they are not.
A doctor in Germany treats patient as it is indicated in the protocol. Only in this case he is protected if something goes wrong as the treatment schemes are going to be checked by the inspection. If a doctor followed recommendations, he is good. But he will be disciplined if he did what he wanted.
No one punishes medical staff in the developing countries. Nobody takes away doctors’ licenses; nobody pays fine and gets fired from their job. One of the reasons why most of the specialists don’t use the recommendations is that each doctor treats in his own way. Whether a particular patient will be lucky or not, is not known. Such treatment resembles "Russianroulette".
The use of generics. In countries with low incomes, the choice of medicines is largely determined by their cost. Therefore, generics as more affordable analogs of original antitumor drugs are used. However, not always similar drugs have a similar effectiveness. Often the results of chemotherapy are worse than expected. According to statistics, modern cancer drugs are only available to 25% of patients.
Why is it better to treat cancer abroad?
Obviously, it is better to treat cancer at stage one-three and at the advanced stages abroad if the healthcare system in your country is poor. Key benefits of the Western healthcare are:
- Availability of the qualitative diagnostics
- Availability of the latest treatment methods and modern medicines
- Use of the latest achievements in surgery which allows operations with minimal tissues damage and low risk of complications
In European hospitals patient receives not only effective but also comfortable treatment as much as it’s possible. They apply up-to-date anesthesia methods. When prescribing drugs or radiotherapy, doctor considers not only the result of the treatment, but also considers treatment tolerability.
Cancer treatment in Europe gives a person a good chance for a long life. Often, it is possible to achieve complete elimination of cancer. That's why 25% of patients who treat cancer in German hospitals are medical tourists from around the world.
Treatment abroad with Booking Health
To undergo cancer treatment at stage 1-3 and at the advanced stages abroad, you may use the Booking Health service. On the Booking Health website, one can see prices, information about the main treatment methods, foreign hospitals and doctors. You can compare the cost of treatment in different medical centers in order to book a beneficial medical program.
The Booking Health specialists will organize your trip abroad. Booking Health offers:
- Selection of a hospital that specializes in the treatment of certain cancers and demonstrates the best results
- Direct communication with the oncologist
- Opportunity to undergo treatment faster, at the most suitable for you dates
- Reduced cost of treatment – the prices will be lower due to the exclusion of extra fees for foreign patients
- Preparation of a medical program without repeating previous diagnostic tests
- Communication with the hospital after the completion of the medical program
- Buying and forwarding drugs and medical products
- Organization of additional diagnostics or treatment abroad
The Booking Health specialists provide top-class services. We will book a hotel and airline tickets for you, arrange a transfer from the airport to the hospital and back, provide you with interpreter and medical coordinator.
Choose treatment abroad and you will for sure get the best results!
Authors:
The article was edited by medical experts, board certified doctors Dr. Nadezhda Ivanisova and Alexandra Solovey. For the treatment of the conditions referred to in the article, you must consult a doctor; the information in the article is not intended for self-medication!
Sources:
European Society for Medical Oncology
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