site.btaExtra Funding Allocated for Cervical Cancer Screening

Bulgaria's caretaker Cabinet on Wednesday evening adopted a decision amending and supplementing the 2021-2025 National Programme for the Prevention of Chronic Non-communicable Diseases, the Government Information Service reported.

The revision is prompted by findings that cervical cancer is the second commonest cancer affecting women aged between 15 and 44.

The decision provides for supplementing the National Programme's 2024 action programme and financial estimate.

The updated National Programme will supplement the statutory set of activities financed by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) for cervical cancer screening of women.

There are plans to carry out 90,000 examinations by an obstetric gynecologist and 90,000 Pap diagnostic tests, for which an extra BGN 9 million will have to be transferred from the 2024 NHIF budget. 

The conduct of screening campaigns for cervical malignant neoplasms among the healthy population will require BGN 3 million. Of these, BGN 1 million will pay for examinations by an obstetric gynecologist and Pap diagnostic tests among vulnerable population groups in outlying and inaccessible areas under the National Framework Agreement, as well as the costs of fuel, road toll vignettes and repairs of the mobile surgeries. Another BGN 2 million are earmarked to cover the costs of a public awareness campaign through various information channels.