Former QC solon lauds CAF budget hike to help more cancer patients

Former Quezon City 5th District Rep. Alfred Vargas

MANILA, Philippines — Former Quezon City 5th district Rep. Alfred Vargas on Monday commended the 150 percent budget increase in the Cancer Assistance Fund (CAF) for 2024, adding that it would help more cancer patients and their families.

The CAF funds were increased from P500 million to P1.25 billion in the General Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2024.

According to Vargas in a statement, who was the principal author of the National Integrated Cancer Control Act that established the CAF, the increase proves the need to prioritize addressing one of the leading causes of death in the Philippines.

“No Filipino family should lose their loved one, give up their savings, their house, their livelihood and end up buried in debt–all at the same time–because of cancer,” Vargas, who lost his mother Atty. Susana “Ching” Vargas to cancer back in 2014, said.

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With this increase in funding, he expressed optimism that a greater number of cancer patients and their families will be able to receive assistance, crediting the achievement to Speaker Martin Romualdez.

“Just this week, we celebrated the fifth anniversary of the signing of NICCA. Through the efforts of our leaders, President Marcos Jr. and Speaker Romualdez, we are optimistic that we will be able to save countless lives and uplift the conditions of those who are most in need,” Vargas said.

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Based on a memorandum by the Department of Health and the Department of Budget and Management, patients may access the CAF for cancer treatment for breast cancer, childhood cancers, gynecologic cancers, liver and digestive tract cancers, adult blood cancers, head and neck cancers, lung cancer, and thyroid cancer.

Patients may then access the CAF through specialty hospitals such as the Philippine General Hospital, East Avenue Medical Center, and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, among others.