00:00 41-year-old IT engineer and amateur cyclist Kuba Molke lives in Poland.
00:10 Health problems during his late teen years have left him with painful memories.
00:15 My symptoms was diarrhoea and then blood in stool and so on and so on, frequent diarrhoea
00:21 that is.
00:22 And all the doctors said that it's due to stress before the A-levels, but when I was
00:27 done with my A-levels and entrance exams to universities, it still persisted.
00:33 So that's when I seriously started looking for help.
00:42 Kuba was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease.
00:47 Successive treatments proved less and less effective.
00:52 Both here in Poland and in the European Union, a particular injectable medicine that can
00:57 help treat his condition is available.
00:59 But for months, Kuba could not get it.
01:02 The only way he was finally able to access the drug was by volunteering for an ongoing
01:07 research programme.
01:11 The first thing I did was asking my doctor if there are other ways to pursue, to get
01:18 the medicine I need.
01:20 And then he came up with the idea to take part in the research.
01:25 I slowly started to see that there's improvement in my condition.
01:30 Like Kuba, thousands of other Poles and European patients are finding it hard to get their
01:35 hands on the latest and most effective medicines they need.
01:40 Waiting times to access some of these medicines can be unbearably long and there are major
01:45 disparities among EU countries when it comes to this.
01:58 Doctors are often left with fewer options and the consequences for patients can be dire,
02:03 says Kuba's gastroenterologist.
02:09 We have the patient that they are losing response from the older medication and if we don't
02:16 have the drug programme and other substances, we have nothing to offer this patient.
02:22 Sometimes the patient found the clinical trials and trying in this way.
02:29 So if we were able to treat it faster, it would be better to the patient, of course.
02:38 Her recent study identified ten factors that could explain why medicines and treatments
02:43 available in some EU member states are sometimes out of reach for others.
02:51 Some of those factors can be addressed at the European level, as stated by the recent
02:55 European Commission pharmaceutical reform proposal.
03:01 That's according to the European Commissioner for Health.
03:05 We need to provide strong incentives for companies so that they release new medicines to all
03:10 member states at the same time.
03:12 We are also in the reform improving the authorisation process.
03:17 For example, you will be able to authorise through the European Medicines Agency new
03:23 medicines much earlier.
03:24 Today you need about 400 days to authorise a new medicine.
03:28 With the new procedures we are putting into place, it will be 180 days.
03:32 This means that they will reach the shelf of the pharmacy much quicker.
03:38 Pharmaceutical companies say they are ready to discuss breakthroughs.
03:42 Some commitments are already on the table, claims the Director General of the European
03:47 Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations.
03:52 For us, that our products reach the patients is the objective, that they reach as many
03:55 patients as possible, as widely as possible.
03:57 The differences in access and availability are multifactorial.
04:01 There is no easy fix.
04:03 What we did as an industry is to address the ones that are our responsibility by making
04:08 a commitment to find a price in every single member state within two years of when the
04:12 product is approved.
04:14 The other part that we also developed as a proposal was to have a price framework so
04:20 that countries are able to purchase products based on their buying power, because different
04:24 countries have different buying powers.
04:29 Whatever the solutions might be, time is running out for some patients.
04:34 Volunteering in a research programme has enabled KUBA to access an efficient treatment for
04:39 two years.
04:40 But what happens next remains uncertain.
04:45 I'll be worrying when the time comes.
04:47 That's my motto, basically.
04:49 But hopefully yes.
04:50 This is like two years ahead, so I think, you know, some things may change for the better.
04:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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