Cancer Centre Expected to Open by End of June, Health Minister Says
Health Minister Michael Joseph says Antigua and Barbuda’s long-awaited cancer treatment centre is expected to open by the end of June, a development he said could significantly reduce the country’s spending on overseas medical care.
Speaking on Pointe FM’s On Pointe programme, Joseph said he has made the opening of the facility a priority as the government continues to incur substantial costs supporting patients who require cancer treatment abroad.
“The cancer care center, getting that open—I know when it came up in Cabinet, I was told that it should be open by the end of June,” Joseph said.
The minister revealed that within the last two weeks alone, the government approved about US$200,000 in assistance for cancer treatment for patients receiving care in Colombia.
“Again, if we look at figures of the last two weeks, I would have approved based on the procedures that are outlined somewhere about 200,000 U.S. in cancer treatment for individuals that we’re currently supporting in Colombia,” he said.
Joseph said those expenditures demonstrate the importance of establishing local treatment options for cancer patients.
“If we extrapolate that over the last year, we see how much we’re spending just on those two cases, that we can easily reduce those costs if we’re able to do them here locally,” he said.
The minister said a functioning cancer centre would not only lessen the financial burden on the government but also improve access to treatment for residents by reducing the need to travel overseas.
He added that the facility could eventually serve patients from across the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, expanding its impact beyond Antigua and Barbuda.
Joseph identified the cancer centre as one of several major healthcare projects currently being pursued by his ministry, alongside plans for a cardiac unit and expanded mental health services.
He said getting the centre operational as quickly as possible remains a key objective for the Ministry of Health.