New funds to help cancer patients with expenses
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NORTHERN BC – More cancer patients, especially those living in rural and remote areas, will benefit from improved access to life-saving cancer care as the Province further invests in medical-travel supports, reducing costs and financial barriers.
“It’s one of my proudest initiatives,” says Adrian Dix, Health Minister. “Right now we have six cancer centres. We’re adding four more. We’re adding them in Kamloops and Nanaimo, Surrey and in Burnaby. If you live in Terrace, you’re probably going to have to travel to Vancouver, to Prince George. If you’re in Cranbrook, you’re going to have to go to Kelowna or to Vancouver. So we’ve provided travel supports for accommodation and for well over 2000 cancer patients and flights, almost a thousand cancer patients in the last year.”
The Province is providing an additional $20 million over two years to the Canadian Cancer Society to support travel and lodging for cancer patients. This funding builds on a previous investment of $10 million in 2023.
In 2023-24, 1,398 cancer patients from 249 communities received travel-support funding through the Canadian Cancer Society Travel Treatment Fund, representing a 742 percent increase from the previous year.
