Stepping Up to Meet the Needs of Cancer Patients During a Pandemic

In oncology, our north star has always been the criticality and urgency of the work we do for people living with cancer. Our goal, like many others, is to try to find cures for a life-threatening disease that impacts millions of people and touches our lives in many ways. As we approach the 2020 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, I can’t help but think about the added urgency that COVID-19 has contributed to our work.

COVID-19 has fundamentally changed patient care, particularly for people living with cancer. The challenges being faced right now are manifold. Surgeries that are sometimes part of standard treatment regimens have been postponed, and medical treatment protocols adapted. In-office appointments with healthcare providers (HCPs) and oncologists have transitioned in many instances to telehealth interactions. Social distancing has caused feelings of isolation and other mental health challenges including the anxiety from potentially being immunocompromised during this global pandemic, for example. Factors like these add to the already overwhelming emotional burden of a cancer diagnosis. Not to mention the potential for delays in cancer diagnosis and the impact that could have on patients’ outcomes in the near future.

At a time like this, the ways in which companies like Pfizer and the broader healthcare industry respond to support healthcare professionals and help people with cancer navigate their care is more important than ever. The reality is that cancer doesn’t stop because of COVID-19, and I’ve been inspired by the innovative approaches we’re seeing across the pharmaceutical industry and the solid partnerships with medical societies, healthcare providers, and patient advocacy groups to help the cancer community during this incredibly difficult time.

There are many ways we as a healthcare industry can support both patients and HCPs, and at Pfizer, we are taking a few key steps to rise to the occasion.  

·      Sharing Information & Resources: Staying in close contact with friends and family during this time has proven to be beneficial, and the same principle applies to HCPs and the cancer community. At Pfizer, we are providing timely information, sharing resources to help people navigate this difficult situation, and supporting new research, educational activities, and quality of care improvement initiatives to address the needs of the cancer community and the challenges posed on them by the COVID-19 pandemic. By connecting virtually with HCPs, taking part in events organized by the patient advocacy community, and creating a COVID-19 information hub on Pfizer.com, for example, we’re looking for new ways to help HCPs and patients alike.

·      Supporting Colleagues Volunteering at the Frontlines: Pfizer, like other pharmaceutical companies, has initiated a program to enable its employees with medical expertise to volunteer their services to local healthcare systems, and I am so proud of the many colleagues around the world who have done this.

·      Continuing to Drive Scientific Innovation: Forums like the upcoming ASCO Annual Meeting are a platform for scientific innovation, with findings that can potentially transform the future of cancer. While the circumstances won’t allow us to be in Chicago this year and engage in person as we normally would, we’re proud to present robust data across 18 Pfizer medicines and 17 cancer types and to continue collaborating with the scientific community in new ways to build on these findings and deliver breakthroughs that can change patients’ lives.

No one company, person, or organization can overcome a disease like cancer or a worldwide pandemic on their own – we are in this fight together. If we continue to collaborate, I am very hopeful that through our science, medical expertise, and harnessing our collective efforts that we will defeat COVID-19 and continue to improve on the outcomes of cancer care.