“We are announcing the results of the competition for funding for cancer hospitals. The allocated amount is unprecedented and record-breaking. It is as much as PLN 4.2 billion for 19 entities from 14 voivodeships. The funds originate from the Medical Fund and make up 10 % of its budget”, said Health Minister Katarzyna Sójka.

The funding will serve comprehensive solutions. It includes not only infrastructure, but also the construction, expansion, and modernisation of oncology entities across the country.

“On average, these facilities will receive PLN 220 million each. I am fully convinced that this will translate into the well-being of patients, into care at the highest level, the fastest possible diagnosis, treatment and, ultimately, cure”, noted the Minister of Health.

Deputy Minister of Health Marcin Martyniak indicated that the programmes are long-term investments which will be implemented over the next few years, but the first funds will reach the beneficiaries already in the coming months.

“We are meeting the needs that we are diagnosing, concluding the activities related to the strategy outlined in the Ministry of Health in the area of oncology. After the National Oncology Strategy, the National Oncology Network and free HPV vaccinations, which are also financed from the Medical Fund, such an infrastructural and equipment closure is the culmination of the process of supporting oncology”, stressed the Deputy Minister.

Professor Piotr Czauderna, Chairman of the Health Care Council, recalled that today oncology is the second cause of death in Poland. “We have about 180,000 cases per year and 100,000 people die.

Statistics show that by 2030, the number of cases will increase by 30 % and this will also affect younger people, not just the elderly. Cancer will soon become the first cause of death in Polish society. That is why we need to invest in oncology”, stressed Professor Czauderna.

Adrian Andrzejewski