Download Strengthening Cancer Prevention, Improving Cancer Care

Back grounder
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STRENGTHENING CANCER PREVENTION,
IMPROVING CANCER CARE
The province is investing more than $8.6 million over two years to combat cancer in Manitoba.
The funding will be used to expand resources aimed at improving cancer prevention, detecting
cancer earlier and enhancing treatment options for Manitobans living with cancer.
Assess-Your-Risk E-tool: The province will invest $300,000 toward the development of a
web-based tool that will allow Manitobans to help assess their individual risk of chronic
conditions. It will also provide Manitobans with information to make healthy lifestyle choices
that will help them reduce their risk.
Dial-a-Dietitian Program: The province will invest $214,000 to develop a new Dial-a-Dietitian
service through Health Links–Info Santé. The pilot program will allow Manitobans to contact a
dietitian for free advice on healthy eating options to reduce their cancer risk.
Expanding Colorectal Cancer Screening: More than $2.8 million in new funding will be used
to expand the Manitoba Colorectal Cancer Screening Program. This will allow the distribution
of an additional 20,000 test kits this year and increased numbers in following years to allow
screening for an increased number of Manitobans between the ages of 50 and 74 who are
most at risk of developing colorectal cancer.
Fecal Occult Blood Tests (FOBTs): Tests will be available through physicians’ offices, the
Manitoba Breast Screening Program and the Manitoba Colorectal Cancer Screening Program.
Increasing Numbers of Colonoscopies: People who have a positive test result may require
followup testing with a colonoscopy, a minor surgical procedure. The province will provide
more than $2.1 million to fund an additional 3,150 colonoscopies across the province each
year. Followup care will be centrally co-ordinated in consultation with the person’s
primary-care physician.
Enhanced Drug Coverage: More than $3.3 million in new funding will be used to provide
access to additional high-priority cancer drugs to be identified by CancerCare Manitoba.
These may include drugs used to treat breast, lung, colorectal and renal cell cancer.
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Since 1999, the province has made significant investments in cancer prevention and treatment
across Manitoba including:

investing more than $12 million in new and replacement linear accelerators and treatment
vaults, providing CancerCare Manitoba with state-of-the art equipment and additional
treatment capacity;

investing $7.5 million to purchase a world-class surgical tool, expected to be operational
next year, that will allow non-invasive treatment of cancers in all parts of the body that
would otherwise require invasive surgery or previously would have been considered
inoperable;

committing more than $20 million to develop an expanded western Manitoba
regional cancer centre in Brandon;

tripling the number of new radiation therapy beds at the Health Sciences Centre;

investing $3.1 for a new gamma knife at the Health Sciences Centre, allowing faster
treatment of a broader range of complex cancers;

investing $3.8 million in construction to expand outpatient chemotherapy and obstetrics at
Steinbach’s Bethesda Hospital;

opening community cancer sites in Deloraine, Russell, Neepawa, Hamiota and Pinawa;

increasing funded oncologist positions at CancerCare Manitoba to 46 from 37;

implementing the first colorectal screening program in Canada; and

developing the first prostate cancer public awareness program in Canada and investing
over $3.4 million in the Manitoba Prostate Centre.