Carla van Gils, director KWF Dutch Cancer Society: “To change the future for people with cancer, ambitious investments in education and research are vital. As the largest health care foundation in the Netherlands, KWF Dutch Cancer Society invests millions into cutting-edge research every year. But that isn’t nearly enough to compensate for the 1 billion euros that have disappeared from the state budget. Financing research has to remain a shared responsibility, together with the Dutch government.” The Dutch Cancer Society and Netherlands Cancer Institute don’t stand alone: a majority of voters (69%) consider it a bad idea for the government to cut costs in Dutch universities and science. Among those who voted for the current coalition parties (PVV, VVD, NSC, BBB), 62% consider these budget cuts a bad idea.
The successful cancer treatments that we are familiar with nowadays, have been the result of decades of shared investments in scientific research. Over the last years, the government and KWF Dutch Cancer Society have made an important contribution to the Oncode collaboration agreement, in which 900 fundamental researchers work together to realize breakthroughs in the diagnostics and treatment of cancer. In combination with the termination of the National Growth Fund, the presented budget costs are a threat to the treatment of future patients. As a result of these budget cuts, it will take much more time until innovative medicines and treatments can reach patients. And many cancer patients don’t have this kind of time. For cancer patients, a standstill means decline.
Society cannot afford this standstill. We see an increase in pressure on health care, costs, and the number of patients. The budget cuts on higher education and science will lower the odds of survival for cancer patients, and prevent its own ambitions concerning lowering wait times and diminishing pressure on health care professionals. Innovations in prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer are crucial in tackling the great societal challenge we are facing. This requires investments with long-term vision.
“These budget cuts will also mean that the Netherlands will fall further behind other European countries in terms of research, as shown by the European innovation scorecard. To prevent that from happening, you need additional investments in education and research to train talented researchers and medical specialists in the Netherlands, and to retain them for our future patients,” says Maurice van den Bosch, chair of the Executive Board of the Netherlands Cancer Institute.
KWF Dutch Cancer Society and the Netherlands Cancer Institute appeal to the extra-parliamentary Cabinet to revert these budget cuts. We need to keep joining forces to provide better prospects to cancer patients in the Netherlands in the future. They should not suffer the consequences of the tight budget of this Cabinet.