The Minister of Health, Ximena Garzón, confirmed that doses donated by the administration of President Guillermo Lasso with a laboratory arrived.
Three patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) met the clinical criteria to receive the drug onasemnogene abeparvovec (Zolgensma), considered the most expensive in the world, in order to improve their health and stop the disease.
The drug arrived in the country on the afternoon of this Wednesday, October 27, for its application in the three children with SMA, including little Derek, whose case went viral on social networks due to the campaign promoted by his parents to reach the goal of covering the high cost of the drug (more than two million dollars).
This Thursday 28, the Minister of Health, Ximena Garzón, confirmed that the National Government obtained the donation of doses of the drug through the personal management of President Guillermo Lasso with the pharmaceutical company Novartis.
What is spinal muscular atrophy and what is the expensive drug that can slow the deterioration in affected babies?
Before the arrival of medicine, The three children were admitted to the Pedriátrico Baca Ortiz hospital, in Quito, last Tuesday to comply with a series of protocols such as taking laboratory tests, clinical check-up, prophylactic treatment and finally the administration of treatment, this Thursday 28.
“Thanks to the Ministry of Health for the management carried out, knowing that our children will have a better quality of life is a feeling that we cannot explain,” said Génesis Pinargote, mother of the 11-month-old boy, Derek, prior to the drug supply.
Specialists from the neurology services, as well as nurses and pharmacists from Baca Ortiz, supported the monitoring of patients for the preparation of medical reports so that the application of the drug is approved according to the evolution and status of each patient, he said. the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) in a statement.
“The application of this drug represents hope in the quality of life and survival of these patients who, due to their genetic condition and progressive evolution of the disease, require timely intervention,” said Rogelio Odales, the neuropaediatrician at this Ortiz hospital.
The specialist said that treatments have currently been implemented to counteract the programmed cell death process that occurs in neurons of the spinal cord and brainstem.
From the supply of the medicine, the evolution of the infants will be monitored. Melvin López, specialist in the area of Neurology, mentioned that they have developed a series of standardized scales for the evaluation and follow-up of the disease in order to determine the degree of mobility of children and the effectiveness of the treatment.
More cases
Two other children suffering from SMA did not meet the criteria established to receive the medication, said Rodrigo Henríquez, General Coordinator of Strategic Development in Health of the Ministry of the sector. (I)
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