New cancer drug fund ‘not enough,’ oncologists sayBy Chiu Chih-jou and Hollie Younger / Staff reporter, with staff writerOncologists yesterday said that President William Lai’s (賴清德) new fund to purchase cancer drugs is “not enough,” while the application process and usage guidelines are unclear. The NT$5 billion (US$158.92 million) fund allocated over this year and next year aims to shorten the waiting time for cancer patients to access new drugs not available under the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme. Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei TimesHospitals also need access to the fund, but are unsure how to do so, he said. Taking colorectal cancer as an example, annual drug expenditures for one patient are between NT$1 million and NT$3 million, he said. More than 40 percent of colorectal cancer cases are only detected during the later stages, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital oncologist Hsu Hong-chih (徐鴻智) said.

Source: Taipei Times January 07, 2026 07:47 UTC