Sask. agrees to pay for expensive cancer drug

Cancer patients who have been hoping the provincial government would start paying for the expensive drug Avastingot some goodnews Wednesday.

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

The funding is expected to cover treatments for about 80 patientsa 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 costswith the drug's effectiveness, it wouldn't cover treatment.

Wall saidWednesday's announcementis an example of the government putting people first in its health-care policies.

Avastin costs about $2,000 a dose, meaninga year of treatmentsrun into the tens of thousands of dollars. Some Saskatchewan patientshave had to pay for the drugs themselvesif they weren't covered under private health plans.

The government has made its coverage of the drugretroactive toNov. 7, the dayof the provincial election that put the Saskatchewan Party in power.

Some 250residentsin the province died of colorectalcancer in 2005, the Saskatchewan Health Department says.