Federal health authorities agreed to end the shortages of several cancer medications that have plagued child cancer patients and their parents for at least two years.

In response to the Health Ministry’s promise to put its commitment into writing on June 8, nine parents who began a hunger strike outside the ministry’s Mexico City offices on Tuesday halted their protest in hopes of having found a solution.

“The Health Ministry remains totally open to dialogue and at all times has been addressing the problem,” it said in a statement.

The department also said that it held a meeting on Friday to review the acquisitions process for cancer medications in order to be able to guarantee parents and patients that they’ll have the medicines they need throughout the rest of the year.

Hospitals in need will soon be stocked by a shipment arriving on June 6 and containing 15,574 boxes of the cancer drugs cyclophosphamide, vincristine, fluorouracil and oxaliplatin. Health authorities are also in the process of purchasing more medications from Argentina, Germany, Cuba and Brazil, as well as setting up weekly shipments to avoid running out.

The cancer patients’ parents said that they have experienced shortages on average every three months for the past two years. The problem has been made worse by the coronavirus pandemic, putting the lives of over 20,000 children at risk.

Source: Sin Embargo (sp)