NCIS Cancer Fund

2024/09/18

Every year, about 60 applications are provided with financial assistance by the NCIS Cancer Fund, a sub-fund of the NUHS Fund. This fund makes it possible for NCIS to assist less fortunate cancer patients with critical cancer treatments. This support can vary from initiation of treatment to ensuring continuity in their treatment and medical follow-ups.

Many NCIS patients expressed their gratitude for having benefitted directly from the fund.

I am very grateful to the NCIS Cancer Fund for helping me to get a scan that I could not afford. After multiple sleepless nights, I was able to get the peace of mind when my scan results showed that there was no cancer recurrence. Thank you so much to everyone who has put in effort to help me.
- Mr T, beneficiary of the NCIS Cancer Fund

My father is diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer and has been seeing Dr Wang for the last 1.5 years. It was a little stressful at first but I am very thankful to the medical team and nurses for their attentive care. Thank you to the medical social workers for helping us to obtain fund for the oral medications. We really appreciate it so much.
- Mr J, son of beneficiary of the NCIS Cancer Fund

Objectives of the NCIS Cancer Fund

To assist patients who are in financial need
To assist in the funding of relevant research in common cancers
To assist in the development of services that will enhance cancer care in Singapore
To help staff keep abreast of the advances in cancer management

Beneficiaries of the NCIS Cancer Fund

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Financially Disadvantaged Cancer Patients

Dr Chee CE with PT

We are one of two national specialist centres for cancer in Singapore. Apart from passionate medical talent and ground-breaking research, what sets us apart is our compassion towards patients with financial hardship. Cancer treatment can be a heavy financial burden but needy patients may be eligible for support from the NCIS Cancer Fund. The Fund caters to patients in need who fall through the gaps in-between a needy patient's CPF-based medical funds and the various Government assistance schemes.

Read stories of patients who have been touched by your generosity.

Mr Goh - "It has given me another chance to live and enjoy precious moments with my family".
Mr Moni - "Don't worry and stay hopeful".
Ms Tu - "It doesn't take a lot to give, but it certainly makes a difference to those in need".

Education & Training

We believe in keeping our healthcare professionals abreast of the latest developments by funding their training at courses, conferences, seminars and workshops either locally or overseas. These types of training have allowed our healthcare professionals to gain new knowledge, which can be shared and applied to improve the delivery of care to patients. These training programmes may not receive financial support from the Ministry of Health but we see their value and have accordingly apportioned funds from the Fund for this purpose.

Examples of staff and patients who have benefited through training:

We sponsored a nurse clinician through the NCIS Cancer Fund for a Master's degree in Advanced Nursing to learn more above palliative care, on how to improve the quality of life for cancer patients.
Dosimetrists are specialists who operate the sophisticated radiation equipment used for radiotherapy. They are required to have a good knowledge of mathematics and physics to be able to calculate the exact dose of radiation each patient needs. The Fund also sponsors our dosimetrists for their certification examinations by the Medical Dosimetrist Certification Board. This ensures that our dosimetrists are fully qualified to deliver a high level of care to our patients.
Our staff comprising of clinicians, nurses, physicists, radiation therapists and allied health professionals gain knowledge at regular conferences and meetings like those organised by the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. Subsidies from us help offset the cost of attending such meetings for our staff to continually upgrade their knowledge and skills, which translates to better care for our patients.

Research

Pursuit of cancer research has resulted in discoveries that lead to more effective cancer therapies.

Our researchers have in recent years:

Uncovered genetic keys which unlock the survival chances of childhood leukaemia patients.
Developed diagnostic tests where aggressive cancer biomarkers are identified, helping patients get the right treatment earlier.
Discovered drugs in clinical trials that keeps the tumour in a patient with refractory colon cancer controlled for many months.
Seen cellular therapy advancements in refractory leukaemia, myeloma and lymphoma, and now moving on to breast, gastric, and sarcoma.