According to Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan, the high cost of cancer treatment poses a significant financial burden on society as a whole. He made this statement at a recent policy dialogue workshop on technology assessment in payment decisions for cancer treatment drugs, organized by the Institute of Strategy and Health Policy.
According to statistics in 2023, the cost from the Health Insurance Fund (HIF) for cancer treatment drugs is VND7,521 billion (US$303,764,330), ranking first in the total drug payment from the HIF.
Furthermore, patients face significant out-of-pocket expenses, which is concerning.
A hospital survey indicates that the annual treatment cost for a cancer patient exceeds VND176 million, with patients responsible for up to 70 percent of this amount. While the Ministry of Health has included new cancer treatment medications in the HIF coverage list, experts point out that many advanced, high-efficacy drugs from the new generation are still not included in this list.
