2024-09-14 06:05:14
Multiple myeloma registers between 2,500 and 3,000 new cases each year in Mexico and the most important “risk factor” for the development of this hematological cancer is age, which is especially worrying because the world’s population is aging, the medical director of Amgen México , said Max Sarachaga.
File photo dated April 1, 2023, of Amgen’s medical director, Dr. Max Saráchaga, appearing during an interview with EFE, in Isla Mujeres (Mexico). EFE/ Alonso Cupul ARCHIVE
Multiple myeloma in Mexico was analyzed by Max Saráchaga.
“The older you are, the more likely you are to have cancer (…) and the population pyramids in Mexico and Latin America are changing and this means that we have people over 60 who are growing up in speed. Therefore, more and more people are at risk age,” said Saráchaga in an interview with EFE last Monday, September 9, the month of blood or blood cancer.
In addition, he points out that multiple myeloma, which is also considered an incurable disease, is rare before the age of 40, so its peak “after 60 years” and more often in the man.
Although there is no treatment that cures this oncology, the specialist explains that with a combination of four drugs patients have a quality survival of up to 15 years.
To do this, he commented, it is necessary to have specialized institutions, infrastructure and medical personnel, because “sometimes part of the treatment requires the transfer of what we call today stem cells or hematopoietic cells, of formerly known as bone marrow.”
Improve access and increase human capital
Also, Saráchaga points out that the diagnosis of multiple myeloma “is not easy,” because the patient often needs the attention of more than one doctor.
Mexico “has few scientists” and the infrastructure that covers many diagnostic approaches for complex diseases is often located in places far away from certain regions.
“We have the Mexican National Cancer Institute (INCAN) full of nice people and a first rate group and patients have to come from Chiapas, Oaxaca, Campeche because in their region there is no place like this, we have to also places do. like INCAN to bring these services closer,” he stressed.
Regarding the improvements in the health sector, he admits that “not everything is for everyone,” but he is convinced about some of the achievements that have taken place during the six-year term of the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, mainly towards the approach of “international health services” with the center of the Mexican Social Institute for Welfare (IMSS-Bienestar), which is public.
“Now we have to reinforce it. Because one thing is the mandate of universal and free services and another thing is that it happens in reality, “said the doctor in view of the next administration of the elected President Claudia Sheinbaum, who will take office on October 1. .
Look closely at the patient groups
As an important measure, the expert in the pharmaceutical industry mentioned that priority should also be given to groups of patients in Mexico with multiple myeloma and any type of disease, as they organize groups that push the demands of patients.
“There is a clear example that patient groups have the power to achieve amazing things. The most obvious example is that of the Immunodeficiency Disease (AIDS), thanks to them, patients in Mexico and in many parts of the world have full access to treatments that allow them to live their lives normal for many years,” he added.
However, he admitted that in the case of multiple myeloma patient groups, which represent 10 to 15 percent of blood disorders, these “still do not have the importance they deserve.”