New funding provided by the Manitoba government will ensure cancer patients have continued access to an important transportation program that helps them get to treatment and medical appointments. This announcement was made by Health Minister Erin Selby.
“When people are diagnosed with cancer, they often face unexpected costs and travel costs can be significant for Manitobans who must go to larger centres for treatment and services,” said Minister Selby. “This funding will ensure the valuable transportation program offered by the Canadian Cancer Society will continue and patients can rely on the service to help them get to their treatments and appointments.”
For more than 30 years, the Canadian Cancer Society transportation program has provided access to transportation services for treatment and appointments. Volunteer drivers take cancer patients to and from appointments in Winnipeg, Brandon and many rural sites.
The Manitoba government is providing $75,000 annually to the Canadian Cancer Society to help address the costs of delivering the program, the minister said.
“Manitobans tell us the service helps them better cope with a cancer diagnosis, that it relieves anxiety and it makes cancer patients feel supported,” said Mark McDonald, executive director, Canadian Cancer Society Manitoba Division. “This investment helps us plan for the future and expand the service into new communities so we can support more Manitobans fighting cancer.”
The transportation service provides about 30,000 rides annually in more than 50 communities throughout the province. In 2012 alone, the volunteers collectively travelled more than 750,000 kilometres.
“When the Canadian Cancer Society talks, we listen,” said Minister Selby. “This program provides safe and reliable transportation for people living with cancer and we are proud to help ensure this program continues to operate for Manitobans who need it most.”
The minister noted the Manitoba government has made a number of recent investments over the past year to support patients living with cancer across the province including:
- covering 100 per cent of costs for approved cancer treatment and support drugs with no deductibles for patients through the Manitoba Home Cancer Drug Program;
- implementing an Urgent Cancer Care Clinic at CancerCare Manitoba and the Cancer Helpline to help patients with cancer and blood disorders access care to quickly address symptoms related to their disease and side effects from treatment;
- bringing faster access to cancer treatment closer to home by expanding 16 rural chemotherapy sites into full CancerCare hubs, which include patient journey navigators and enhanced services for cancer patients and their families;
- adding new cancer drugs to the Manitoba drug formulary;
- hiring new front-line staff including more pathologists and new cancer testing co-ordinators and technologists;
- introducing new testing procedures to help identify patients at a greater risk for inherited colon and other types of cancers including testing for Lynch syndrome, a disorder that significantly increases the risk of developing cancer;
- purchasing an advanced diagnostic machine that helps determine the best treatment for a type of breast cancer which analyzes the genetic make-up of breast cancer cells to find a specific protein, called HER-2; and
- introducing leading-edge robotic technology now being used to prepare chemotherapy drugs quickly and safely at CancerCare Manitoba to improve patient safety.
More information on Manitoba’s Cancer Strategy can be downloaded here.
