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Breast Friends President Eunetta Bird has written a letter to the Minister of Health, requesting the reopening of the Cancer Centre Eastern Caribbean, which closed a year ago. The objective of reopening the center is to decrease the financial burden on cancer patients.
The government has been in talks with Dr. Joseph John’s investment team to sell the Cancer Centre. The hope is to reopen the facility within the next few months.
Letter also requested the government to provide more assistance to financially burdened patients.
Since the centre’s closure, Breast Friends has been overwhelmed with requests from people seeking help with travel costs.
Breast Friends is not an organization with significant financial resources. The closure of the Cancer Centre means that cancer patients in need of radiotherapy must travel overseas to receive it.
While the government covers the cost of treatment, patients must pay for everything else, including flights, accommodation, food, and ground transportation.
Bird’s letter also requested the government to offset the cost of airline travel for financially burdened patients on a means basis.
She also requested expedited travel processing, especially for patients who have completed chemotherapy treatment. The longer it takes to complete treatment, the greater the chance of the cancer progressing to a later stage.
Bird stated that an airline ticket could cost patients roughly $5,000 plus accommodations for a six to nine-week treatment period. She expects a response to her letter from the minister within two weeks.
The Cancer Centre Eastern Caribbean was established in June 2015 to serve cancer patients across the OECS. It provided radiotherapy for both private patients and those covered by the Medical Benefits Scheme.
Private patients could also pay for chemotherapy at the centre, while MBS patients had access to chemotherapy for a nominal fee.
The cancer support group has launched an online petition asking the public to pressure the government to reopen the Cancer Centre.
Bird explained that the longer it takes for the government to negotiate an agreement to reopen the centre, the more expensive it will be for the investment group to get it back to operational level, and cancer affects everyone, even though you may not have had an experience or know someone with it.
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