The budget management and health departments have assured the public of the availability of P500 million in financial assistance to Filipino cancer patients.
The funding under Republic Act 11215, or the National Integrated Cancer Control Act of 2019, has been reinstated by the Department of Budget and Management for the utilization of the Department of Health.
House Deputy Minority Leader Bernadette Herrera thanked the DBM and DoH for heeding calls to provide funding support to cancer-stricken Filipinos.
It was Herrera who appealed for the inclusion of the P500 million in the 2023 National Expenditure Program submitted by the DBM to Congress.
DoH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said that they appealed to the DBM to include the budget for cancer patients’ care, but the plea was denied.
The DBM announced over the weekend that P529.2 million in cancer-related funding can now be used until the end of 2023 following Joint Memorandum Circular 2022-0002, outlining the CAF guidelines.
“With this funding, the government can now provide life-saving support to cancer patients and their families who are facing financial challenges, especially amid the Covid-19 pandemic,” Herrera said.
The NICC Act established a National Integrated Cancer Control Program serving as the framework for all cancer-related activities of the government.
The program aims to decrease the overall mortality rate and impact of cancer on Filipinos.