Brazil modernises flagship cancer institute – bigger budget, new purchasing regime
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Brazil's national cancer institute (INCA) has been awarded a R$54m (US$24m) increase on its current R$330m annual budget, to invest in new centres and help meet new service quality standards. The additional funding comes with administrative reforms, said to feature a simpler regime specifically for the purchase of consumables and equipment. Ministerial decree 2,024, approved on September 26 after a 16-month passage through parliament, provides funding to build a new centre in Rio de Janeiro city, two new "high-complexity" (diagnostic and treatment) centres in Rio de Janeiro state, and an undisclosed number of "macro-regional" R&D centres across the country. Last year, INCA registered 7,556 new patients, performed around 12,000 surgical procedures, including 92 bone marrow transplants. It managed almost a half of Rio de Janeiro city's 342,000 radiotherapy procedures, and a quarter of all cases in Rio de Janeiro state.