Senator Nancy Binay on Thursday slammed the Department of Health (DOH) for removing an item in the proposed 2022 national budget meant for the country’s cancer fund.
Binay said the DOH’s move to incorporate the funds for the National Integrated Cancer Control Program, including cancer medicines for children, and the Cancer Assistance Fund under the fund for non-communicable diseases or NCDs is a direct violation of the provisions of the National Integrated Cancer Control Act (NICCA).
The proposed funds for NCDs amounts to P1.3-billion.
“The DOH should have taken our cue when we allocated P620-million last year for cancer. That’s the law and a long-term priority,” Binay said.
“Instead of moving forward this is a step back that we should correct. When survival matters, you don't make lifelines invisible,” she added.
“Hindi katanggap-tanggap na tila hindi permanenteng priority ang suporta para sa mga cancer patients natin. Dahil nakabulto lang sa NCD budget, walang linaw kung magkano ba talaga ang nakalaan. Ang pangamba ay baka paglaruan lang ang budget na ito (It’s unacceptable to see that support for our cancer patients is still not a priority. It was incorporated in the NCD budget and with no clear how much is really allocated for it. There are fears the funds would only be used in other items),” Binay said.
"This is another half-baked idea that the DOH is trying to implement, which again puts in question the priorities of its leadership,” she added.
The senator said she will rectify the blunder by filing an amendment during the Senate’s deliberations on the DOH’s proposed budget for 2022.
The Cancer Coalition of the Philippines earlier sounded the alarm over the removal of the cancer fund line item in next year’s budget.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Cancer Observatory said more than 153,000 new cases of cancer were recorded in the Philippines in 2020.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death for Filipinos, with 62,300 deaths tallied last year.
The lawmaker also asked why the National Integrated Cancer Control Council, which is tasked to formulate the country’s policy response to cancer, has not yet convened.
“This issue over the budget stems from the lack of a clear policy direction which the NICC Council has the responsibility of crafting,” she pointed out.