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
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
Ontario Provincial Police arrest 64 suspects in child sexual exploitation investigation
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
Blind Sask. boy heading to international braille competition hopes to increase accessibility for visually impaired
A Saskatchewan boy who qualified for an international braille competition in Los Angeles next month hopes he can inspire change in his home province.
'A step forward': New screening criteria for sperm donors takes effect
Canadians looking to grow their families with the assistance of sperm or egg donations should soon have more options for donors as the federal health agency does away with longstanding restrictions criticized as discriminatory.