THE legacy of asbestos campaigner Bernie Banton was sealed today as mesothelioma victims across Australia were universally given cheap access to treatment.
About 600 Australians are diagnosed annually with the killer cancer of the lung or stomach lining, triggered by exposure to asbestos, and the disease is on the rise.
The drug Alimta can increase sufferers' survival time and improve their quality of life, but has been out of reach for many patients at $20,000 or more for six treatments.
From today, the drug will be listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, meaning sufferers will pay just $31.30 for each prescription.
Mr Banton's wife Karen today said the 61-year-old had been "ecstatic'' at hearing the news on his death bed that his long-term campaign for the drug to be subsidised had paid off.
The government's drug advisory body made the recommendation three weeks before Mr Banton died in November last year, after controversially knocking it back three times since 2004 because it was not cost effective.
Mr Banton, who already suffered from another asbestos-linked disease, had continued to campaign for the drug's listing even as his health deteriorated after his own diagnosis with mesothelioma three months earlier.
"It was his final battle - which he won,'' Mrs Banton told AAP from her Sydney home.
"It was his final legacy for all Australians to be given a fair go if they find themselves in the unfortunate position of needing to use Alimta.''
The listing would make an enormous difference to the lives of sufferers and their families, Mrs Banton said.
Until today, only about half of Australian sufferers had easy access to the palliative care drug, as state government subsidy schemes only applied in NSW and Western Australia and patients could only access workplace compensation with proof they were exposed at work.
Mrs Banton said her husband was fortunate that his exposure came while he was working in NSW, so his treatment was covered.
But the "ridiculous inequity'' of the system meant some families faced the terrible choice of taking out a second mortgage or selling their home to give their families a fighting chance, she said.
The chemotherapy agent was also already available on the PBS to people suffering non-small cell lung cancer, usually smokers - which Mr Banton had long argued was a "travesty of justice''.
Mr Banton began receiving treatment with Alimta every three weeks after being diagnosed in August with peritoneal mesothelioma, caused by his exposure to asbestos while working for a subsidiary of James Hardie from 1968 to 1974.
He was already a public figure after leading the campaign to force the corporate giant to establish a $4.5 billion compensation fund for thousands of affected Australians.
Mrs Banton said her husband's mesothelioma was not picked up earlier because he already had the symptoms of breathlessness and fatigue from another asbestos-linked disease he suffered, asbestosis, making his fight a "real uphill battle''.
"Had he been diagnosed earlier with the mesothelioma, had he started having the Alimta earlier, I think we would have been enjoying at least one Christmas with him, if not more,'' she said.
"There are people who have done extremely well and are going well three years or longer down the track who have exactly what Bernie had, if they've managed to be diagnosed early enough and get started on the treatment.''
Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia president Barry Robson said mesothelioma was such an aggressive form of cancer that sufferers survived an average of just 155 days from diagnosis.
The chemotherapy agent worked in conjunction with another drug for some patients to slow the growth of the tumour, although it did not work for everyone, he said.
"The pain they are in at the end is horrendous ... with Alimta it's a bit easier and it's a bit easier on the family as well,'' he said.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the listing, which will cost about $26 million a year, was an important announcement that followed Mr Banton's tireless campaigning.
"Bernie was a great Australian hero and it is due to his efforts that many people will understand the significance of this decision,'' Ms Roxon said in a statement.
The previous government estimated the listing would benefit about 300 patients a year between 2008 and 2011.
The disease is on the rise as diagnosis can come decades after asbestos exposure, and the number of victims is predicted to hit 18,000 in 2020.
Mr Robson said a "second wave'' of diagnoses was also likely among home renovators in the future.
Alimta became an election campaign issue when then-health minister Tony Abbott was forced into an embarrassing apology to Mr Banton for questioning whether his motives for promoting the drug's PBS listing were "pure of heart''.
It came after Mr Banton criticised Mr Abbott for failing to personally receive a 17,000-signature Alimta petition brought to his Sydney electoral office in October.
The announcement it had received funding came soon after, bypassing the normal process of cabinet approval.
Source:http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22993790-661,00.html