Patients are not reimbursed for expensive cancer drugs that the state does not provide.

The Oncology Clinic has no address for a patient who has been battling cancer for more than a decade. She says that for four years the clinic has lacked the medication to fight tumor cells, while in Turkey a session costs 3.500 euros. The cost has not been reimbursed by the state and the Health Insurance Fund says that they do not cover expenses for medications that are not on the List of Essential Medicines

Shaha Loshi has been battling breast cancer for 14 years, which has spread to other organs.

She says that in the last four years, treatment has not been possible at the Oncology Clinic at UCCK, since the medication with the trade name "Enhertu" is not available at this clinic and is not even included in the List of Essential Medicines.

"I received 8 sessions, while the doctors have suggested 17 more sessions, because the therapy is having an effect and is trying to stop the spread of metastases," she said.

Loshi has gone to a clinic in Turkey for treatment, but says the cost of 3.500 euros per session is unaffordable.

"The cost of the therapy reaches 76 thousand euros and we are unable to provide the funds. We have asked the Ministry of Health for help and have filed complaints, but they have not accepted the documents," this patient complained.

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Loshi says he was forced to delay his final therapy due to a lack of financial support from the Ministry of Health or the Health Insurance Fund.

"They told us that they cannot provide us with treatment abroad, because chemotherapy is in Oncology. We told them: 'OK, you provide the drugs, I will do the treatment here'. But they said that they cannot provide the drugs," said the patient suffering from cancer.

The Health Insurance Fund emphasized that support for this therapy is impossible, since the medication is not on the List of Essential Medicines.

"The only option is for the financial means to be included in the Essential List, because our program is unable to cover something that it does not cover. It is not possible to support the fund in the purchase of therapies. The only option is for the clinic to see how many patients need this therapy and find the financial means as a percentage of essential medicines," said Amir Keka, director of the Health Insurance Fund.

KOHA asked the Oncology Clinic about the number of patients who need the same therapy as the Loshi patient, but there was no answer. The Clinic did not even indicate whether a request will be made to include the medication in the List of Essential Medicines.

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And the Ministry of Health left unanswered the question of why this category of patients is not reimbursed.

In the absence of support from institutions, Shaha Loshi has turned to citizens for help through the fundraising platform "GoFundMe".