Canberra - Tomorrow ACT government will announce an extra $15 million budget for elective surgery and cancer services.

Health minister Katy Gallagher said $14.7 million of territory and Commonwealth funding would be allocated to elective surgery over four years.

About $6 million will come from the capital money from Commonwealth and the health minister said that the funding will be towards an additional 800 procedures in the first year.

The budget announced will be in line with the objective to clear the backlog of patients waiting for surgery treatment. This follows from the Productivity Commission report that ACT had the longest queues for elective surgery in Australia, with more than 10 per cent of patients waiting for more than one year for surgery.

As there are growing cancer patients in Australia every year, the health minister see that there is a need to increase funding for cancer services.

Thus, the budget will include funding for cancer services with an extra $4 million set aside to fund additional staff and treatments.

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Australia Cancer