B.C. announces 10-year plan, $440M investment in cancer care
The B.C. government has announced a new 10-year plan to expand cancer care as the province's population continues to grow and age.
“Our commitment remains to ensure everyone in B.C. gets the care and support they need when they receive that difficult diagnosis,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix at a news conference with Premier David Eby on Friday.
The province will make a $440-million investment that will go towards improving cancer care, as well as research. It’s money that cancer patient Laura Malo hopes will speed up the process in getting her an appointment with an oncologist.
"Yes you had four tumours, yes you have pre-cancer cells, but you know what, you could wait up to 11 months before we start ringing alarm bells, and I went ‘you’ve got be kidding me,’” said Malo describing her conversation with a nurse last fall.
Malo thought she was cancer free nine years ago, but last year she was diagnosed once again.
"It's really hard. It came back, it wasn't supposed to,” she said.
She had surgery in September to remove four tumours after being told she had hormone cancer.
Her next step is to wait for an appointment with an oncologist to be prescribed life-saving medication.
“You’re giving me a death sentence by making me wait,” she said. “I have a good support system with my husband and my family and my friends, but I get nothing, absolutely nothing, from our health system and I'm not the only one."
"It’s unacceptable to be in a situation in our province where someone is waiting for screening or waiting for treatment to the point where it's compromising their cancer care,” said premier Eby during the news conference.
The new plan will roll out in three phases.
Eby said $270 million will be used to expand the hours for cancer care to allow for faster access to screening, treatment, and radiation appointments.
The funding will also be used to introduce revised pay structures for oncologists and cancer-care professionals, as well as Indigenous support positions, and additional supports for patients who need to travel from rural communities for care.
Eby said $170 million of the investment will go towards the BC Cancer Foundation to provide research grants, more clinical trials and new treatments.
“It’s investments like these that will have long-lasting impacts for British Columbians,” said Eby.
According to the province, one in two British Columbians will be faced with a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime.
Kim Chi the Chief Medical Officer for BC Cancer said the goal is that 90 per cent of people are seen by their oncologist within four weeks of their referral.
For chemotherapy, the target is that 90 per cent of patients will receive the treatment within two weeks, and radiations within four weeks.
According to radiologist Dr. Paula Gordon, the targets are bold.
"There's not enough places that do the procedure there's not enough individuals, there's not enough professionals who do the procedure so the waiting lists are intolerably long right now,” said Dr. Gordon.
The wait for biopsy appointments in her office are backlogged, she added.
"We do save spots for the really urgent cases but otherwise we're booking at the end of April and early May," she said.
In 2021, more than 30,000 people in B.C. were newly diagnosed with cancer and more than 11,000 died from the disease.
“In the coming months, we will build off this investment with additional funding to support our goals and to deliver care,” Eby added.
The province said the 10-year plan will focus on 70 key actions, which including recruiting, training and retaining health-care workers.
Since 2017, the province said, it has invested over $1 billion to strengthen cancer care.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW Pack the macaroni necklace: Lessons on evacuations from a woman who fled one of Canada's worst wildfires
Carol Christian had 15 minutes to evacuate her home during the Fort McMurray wildfires in 2016. She ended up losing the house and everything inside. Now, she wants to share the lessons she learned.
Scheffler detained by police at PGA Championship for not following orders after traffic fatality
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler was detained by police Friday morning on his way to the PGA Championship, with stunning images showing him handcuffed as he was led to a police car. ESPN reported he failed to follow police orders during a pedestrian fatality investigation.
Ontario sees first measles death in more than a decade after young child dies
A young child has died of measles in Ontario, marking the first death in the province from the highly contagious virus in more than 10 years, a Public Health Ontario report confirms.
Think twice before sharing 'heartbreaking' social media posts, RCMP warn
Mounties in B.C. are urging people to think twice before sharing "heartbreaking posts" on social media.
'Ugly produce': One way Canadians are shrinking rising grocery bills
As the cost of food in Canada has risen, grocery shoppers are looking at ways to reduce their grocery bill, and more are choosing price over beauty, turning to companies that deliver so-called 'misfit' produce at a fraction of the cost.
Vatican revamps norms to evaluate visions of Mary as it adapts to Internet age and combats hoaxers
The Vatican on Friday radically reformed its process for evaluating alleged visions of the Virgin Mary, weeping statues and other seemingly supernatural phenomena, insisting on having the final say in whether the events are worthy of popular devotion.
Wildfires are dampening against cool, rainy weather, but there's plenty left to contain
An opportune system of cool, wet weather Friday is dampening the spread of wildfires across Western Canada, but there's still plenty of work for responders and residents alike.
Jessica Biel hopes to normalize the conversation around menstruation with a new children's book
Jessica Biel is the author of a new children’s book focused on destigmatizing and normalizing the conversation around menstruation.
5 secrets to moving better and preventing avoidable injury
Countless people seek emergency care for back pain, muscle strains and similar injuries resulting from “moving wrong” during mundane, everyday tasks such as bending over to tie shoes, lifting objects or doing household chores.