Cancer patients have savings wiped out by health bills

NEARLY half of cancer patients (49%) in this country have been forced to dip into savings to fund their cancer treatment — with 6% of Irish cancer patients seeing their treatment costs wipe out all of their savings due to mounting health bills.

Research by the National Cancer Registry has shown that one out of every 10 cancer patients across the country have sought bank loans to pay for their healthcare.

The postal survey of 740 cancer patients has also indicated that nearly a third of respondents believe their household income has suffered significantly as a direct result of their cancer diagnosis.