B.C. government announces $440-million plan to expand cancer care

The B.C. government has announced it will spend an initial $440 million on a 10-year-plan to expand cancer care to address the needs of a growing and aging population.

“Nearly every British Columbian has been affected by cancer in some way, through their own diagnosis or that of a family member or friend,” said Premier David Eby, at a news conference with Health Minister Adrian Dix on Friday.

Over the next 36 months, the government pledges to expand cervical, lung and hereditary cancer screening, improve vaccination initiatives to eradicate cancers caused by HPV, and expand cervical cancer screening to include more at home tests.

It also plans to modernize paediatric cancer services, expand treatment hours, and better connect people to palliative care.

Eby said the money—which is on top of the annual $971 million budgeted for cancer—will also go to equipment, higher pay for oncologists, and to support Indigenous patients and those who must travel for care from rural communities. Details on many of these initiatives will be released in the coming months, the government said.