Cancer treatment loser in Govt package

The Labour Government's move to spend a paltry 12 percent of its total $40 million cancer control package on cancer treatment is a disgrace, ACT Health spokesman Heather Roy said today.

"It is nothing more than a drop in the bucket.

"This Government has had five years to do something about disgraceful cancer treatment statistics. Now a few months out from the election it is giving only $5 million to cancer treatment," Mrs Roy said.

"Health Minister Annette King's announcement is simply a response to the widespread public outcry over cancer patients being sent to Australia for treatment.

"Recent bad publicity over record numbers of New Zealanders dying on hospital waiting lists has forced the minister's hand," Mrs Roy said.

Mrs Roy said the package did not address the chronic shortage of specialists and radiotherapists.

ACT believes the best way to deliver the cancer treatment services that New Zealanders deserve is to encourage greater cooperation between the private and public health sectors.

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