Pink October: breast cancer awareness month
October 9, 2023
Health moves us isn't just our motto — it's our banner every day, in every action, in every process, in every decision. That's why every October we join the campaign around one of the most common cancers among women worldwide: breast cancer.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared October Breast Cancer Awareness Month worldwide, and in 1988 established October 19th as World Breast Cancer Day, aiming to raise attention and support for early detection and treatment of this disease.
In Argentina, 22,000 new cases are detected every year. With an incidence of 73 cases per 100,000 women, the Argentine League Against Cancer (LALCEC) estimates that one in eight women will develop this disease at some point in their life.
Most cases are diagnosed at advanced stages, which is why early detection is critical in this fight. Breast cancer is difficult to prevent, but tools and resources exist that make early detection possible and substantially reduce its impact: at early stages, the cure rate is close to 90%.
The WHO promotes the fight against breast cancer in several ways:
- Control: Comprehensive cancer control spans prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care.
- Early detection and diagnosis: Mammography is the most effective proven method for detecting breast cancer early. All women over 40 with no family history of breast cancer are advised to see their doctor every year and get regular screening mammograms.
- Prevention: Including healthy food in your diet, physical activity, and controlling alcohol consumption, overweight, and obesity.
During October, the month of awareness and prevention, our logo turns pink to reaffirm our commitment to women's health and to emphasize that early detection of breast cancer is essential to saving lives.
Grupo Lafken created a Bioethics Committee
October 18, 2021
Grupo Lafken takes a new step in its history as a leading healthcare company by presenting its first Bioethics Committee.
The Committee is a collegiate, interdisciplinary body for decision-making on matters with ethical and social implications for biomedicine and health sciences. It maintains functional independence from the company's different areas and management, ensuring it can act autonomously.
Among the members of the new committee are healthcare professionals such as Dr. Gustavo Jankilevich, oncologist and Head of Oncology at Hospital Durand; academics and religious figures such as the renowned Monsignor Alberto Bochatey, holder of a Master's in Bioethics from UCA and a degree in Moral Theology (specializing in Bioethics); a legal team that includes Eduardo Lombardi, acting as constitutional lawyer and health law specialist; and systems experts, among other professionals.
In this way, Grupo Lafken brings a bioethical perspective to each of its business divisions: the commercialization and distribution of high-cost medications and special products, orphan drug management, its own pharmacies and national network, the medical auditing center, and the Orionis Medical Center.
Today, Bioethics Committees are especially important at institutions, companies, and organizations involved in healthcare. On this point, Gustavo Jankilevich, Medical Director of Grupo Lafken, explains that the Committee "safeguards individuals' rights and their bioethical components. Given that our Group is a healthcare services company, having this Bioethics Committee is one more step toward understanding another dimension of the care we owe to all Argentines."
One example among the many cases the committee can act on is within the Orionis Medical Center, which carries out around 3,000 treatments a year. "If a patient doesn't want to continue a treatment, the bioethics committee will step in to make sure the patient received enough information to make their decision, and will confirm not only that they received the necessary information, but that they understood it."
Looking ahead, Jankilevich states that Bioethics Committees are "a long-term policy that is here to stay." "In another 20 years there will be more complex medications and technologies that will be harder to understand, and these committees will be essential."
Among the Committee's objectives are:
- Developing strategies and policies related to the prevention and treatment of chronic non-communicable diseases, rare diseases, and oncological conditions, optimizing the equitable distribution of resources.
- Establishing uniform criteria and best-practice guidelines for ethical-clinical dilemmas.
- Analyzing, advising on, and facilitating clinical decision-making in ethical conflicts between healthcare staff, patients or users, and the institution, giving special weight to the perspective of the patient and their circle.
- Proposing action protocols or procedural guidelines to the institution for situations where ethical conflicts arise.
- Providing academic and technical training to doctors, nurses, and pharmacists to ensure quality of care throughout the doctor-patient relationship.
We invite you to learn more about the Bioethics Committee: Watch the video
Lafken celebrates its 20th anniversary
September 14, 2021
How long a company lasts in the market often reflects the strength and sustainability of its different projects. That's why Lafken, a group of Argentine-owned capital marking two decades in business, put together a timeline to show the road traveled so far.
It shows that the company was born in 2001, and in the middle of an economic crisis built the first pharmacy network for outpatient care. In 2003 it opened its offices on Balcarce street in Buenos Aires, which earned ISO 9001:2008 certification in 2010. In 2011 it opened its Quilmes office, replacing the one in the City of Buenos Aires. In 2015 the company opened the Orionis Medical Center, and four years later, in 2019, it was awarded the nationwide distribution contract for the first consolidated hemophilia purchase. Then, in 2020, its Buenos Aires pharmacy in the Once neighborhood relocated and reopened.
In 2021, through partnerships with international laboratories, the company continued its work managing, administering, and providing access to orphan drugs, rare diseases, and compassionate-use treatments. That same year it also modernized its Quilmes offices and updated its ERP management system. Meanwhile, the Once pharmacy earned ISO 9001:2015 certification.
The company, led by CEO Eduardo Lombardi, operates through three business divisions: drug distribution and commercialization, with wholesale drug operations in Quilmes and Barracas covering orphan drug management and logistics; pharmaceutical management, through the Laffarma pharmacies in Buenos Aires, Lomas de Zamora, Córdoba, and Mendoza, plus a nationwide network of partner pharmacies that dispense treatments, provide outpatient care, and handle auditing and benefit management; and medical management, led by the Orionis Medical Center and the center for auditing and administration of special conditions (APESA), which provides medical care for chronic conditions, treatment infusion, and recovery documentation management.
According to the CEO, the group thinks in terms of comprehensive solutions with a long-term vision in mind. "That's how it was born, and that's why it has become much more than a drug distributor — designing and delivering tailored, sustainable solutions for chronic patient care across the public, private, and social security sectors," he added. He explained that the processes span everything from prescription, protocol design, auditing, medical care, access, dispensing, and supply, to the distribution of high-complexity medications and products with in-house last-mile delivery, all the way to the final link in the chain.
In recent years the company has built a data technology system to add value to the healthcare system and support better decision-making. This data driven, real world data approach helps stakeholders design evidence-based plans, improving access to treatment and optimizing patient outcomes.
Since its founding 20 years ago, the company faced the challenge of launching a project in the middle of a crisis. That led the group to take on the task of designing a new distribution system, giving rise to its home care delivery strategy, which lets health insurers work directly with chronic or homebound patients.
And amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the company rolled out strict internal protocols for its team. As a result, none of its patients had to discontinue their treatment, and the supply of medications and high-complexity products was never disrupted either. The company also launched its "No te descuides por cuidarte" ("Don't neglect yourself by being careful") campaign, bringing fresh perspectives to this new era.
