In an earlier post, we told you about the desperate situation playing out in Israel, where colon cancer patients have gone on a hunger strike in a public protest over lack of access to potentially life-saving cancer drugs. Now on the ninth day of their strike, Israeli billionaire Sammy Ofer has offered to pay for a month's supply of the needed drug for colon cancer patients until Ministry of Health officials can work something out to insure colon cancer patients receive the drugs they need to fight their cancer.

According to the newspaper account, supporters of the cancer patients expressed their appreciation to Ofer for his generosity but what they want is to ensure the accessibility of all new medications that have been proven effective and have been recommended by the pharmaceutical evaluation committee to all cancer patients.

MK Shelly Yechimovitch is quoted as saying that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the State of Israel were ultimately responsible for the lives and well-being of Israeli citizens and should not have to rely on donations from private citizens. I couldn't agree more. While Ofer's offer is a generous one, cancer patients should not be put in a position of relying on the charity of others for medical treatments, because then it always becomes a matter of uncertainty of where and when the next aid will come. The hunger strike continues.