Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE) dismissed a report by analytics firm IQVIA, which ranked the country last in Western Europe for patient access to new cancer treatments, Euractiv reported.
The study, part of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations’ (EFPIA) annual Patients W.A.I.T. Indicator Survey, found Irish patients wait an average of 644 days—nearly two years—for newly approved oncology drugs, far exceeding the EU average and worsening from 477 days in 2020.
The HSE refuted the findings, asserting that pharmaceutical companies are directly responsible for delays in nearly a third of cases. A spokesperson told Euractiv that 30% of oncology medicines cited in the report had no formal pricing or reimbursement application submitted by manufacturers, a legal prerequisite under Ireland’s 2013 Health Act.
“The pharmaceutical industry holds direct responsibility for the non-application of these cancer drugs,” the HSE stated, adding that EFPIA’s methodology failed to account for delays between drug approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and companies’ initiation of reimbursement processes.
The agency also criticised the report for omitting “stop clocks”—periods where applications stall awaiting industry responses—and for neglecting delays in post-approval drug launches by manufacturers.
Eimear O’Leary of the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA) acknowledged systemic flaws. While avoiding blame attribution, she stressed that Ireland’s laggard status in cancer care is “undeniable,” citing broader consensus on the issue.
The government has pledged to accelerate access under its Programme for Government, bolstered by 34 new staff appointments to streamline reimbursement, as recommended in the 2023 Mazars Report, a review of HSE drug pricing governance.
O’Leary emphasised IPHA’s push for a revised pricing agreement with the state to “improve standards for patients,” noting that current negotiations aim to overhaul a system where 40% of applications face protracted delays, often due to backlogs in submitting health technology assessment (HTA) dossiers.
The dispute highlights Ireland’s struggle to balance fiscal prudence with timely access to therapies. While the HSE insists it cannot reimburse drugs without formal applications, patient advocates warn that bureaucratic inertia—on both sides—is costing lives. With oncology outcomes lagging behind EU peers, pressure mounts for reforms to a system described by campaigners as “broken by design.”
