Sask. agrees to pay for expensive cancer drug

Cancer patients who have been hoping the provincial government would start paying for the expensive drug Avastin got some good news Wednesday.

Premier Brad Wall said the province will provide $4 million to the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency for patients suffering from advanced colorectal cancer.

The funding is expected to cover treatments for about 80 patients a year.

The previous government didn't cover the cost of Avastin, because it is expensive and doesn't cure colorectal cancer. However, research has shown it  can extend a patient's life by an average of five months.

When the Saskatchewan Party was in Opposition, it urged the NDP to put the treatment on the provincial formulary — the list of drugs paid by the province.

The then government said that after weighing the costs with the drug's effectiveness, it wouldn't cover treatment.

Wall said Wednesday's announcement is an example of the government putting people first in its health-care policies.  

Avastin costs about $2,000 a dose, meaning a year of treatments run into the tens of thousands of dollars. Some Saskatchewan patients have had to pay for the drugs themselves if they weren't covered under private health plans.

The government has made its coverage of the drug retroactive to Nov. 7, the day of the provincial election that put the Saskatchewan Party in power.

Some 250 residents in the province  died of colorectal cancer in 2005, the Saskatchewan Health Department says.