DBM releases P500 million for cancer fund

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released P500 million for the cancer assistance fund (CAF) to boost the health and welfare of Filipinos suffering from the disease, which remains among the leading causes of deaths in the country.

The amount was released to the Department of Health (DOH).

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said around 60 percent of the total public cancer expenditures comes from out-of-pocket payments and private insurance.

“Filipino families, even those in the upper income brackets, are vulnerable to catastrophic health spending due to high treatment costs and limited coverage of cancer care under public programs,” Pangandaman said.

Last year, the DBM released P529.2 million for the CAF. Of the amount, P230.8 million was utilized by the DOH.

The balance of P298.4 million may still be used until the end of the year, the DBM said.

CAF can be used to fund the cost of cancer treatment and its care-related components.

These include the needed diagnostics and laboratories for the eight priority cancer types: breast, childhood, gynecologic, liver, adult blood, head and neck, prostate, renal and urinary.

CAF aims to complement existing financial support mechanisms for various cancer care and control services that are not yet covered by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.