Brasília – The Ministry of Health has created a new financial support program to help cancer patients who need to travel long distances for radiotherapy. The initiative provides daily allowances of up to BRL 300 for transportation, lodging and meals, benefiting both patients and their companions. According to the ministry, many patients currently travel an average of 145 kilometers to reach treatment centers, often facing financial barriers that delay or interrupt therapy.

The new measure is part of the “Agora Tem Especialistas” program and includes an additional annual investment of BRL 156 million to strengthen oncology services. With the change, radiotherapy centers will be able to serve up to 60 more patients each year, representing a 20.7% increase in funding and raising the total annual budget for radiotherapy procedures to BRL 907 million.

Financing for the new initiative will be performance-based, through the Strategic Actions and Compensation Fund (FAEC), replacing the fixed monthly ceiling model. The Ministry of Health expects that by linking funding to the number of procedures performed, the policy will improve access, efficiency and equity in cancer care throughout the Unified Health System (SUS).

Source: Agência Gov

Would you like a complete analysis on this? Contact us at pharmabrnews@gmail.com