Today’s news / Govt. announces new health package
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Interior and Health Minister Sophie Løhde were shown around Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen before the press conference on Tuesday. - Photo: Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix

Govt. announces new health package

With a new health package, the government wants to give the health service a lasting boost of five billion kroner per year, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced at a press conference Tuesday, which was also attended by Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Interior and Health Minister Sophie Løhde. “A lot is going well in the healthcare system,” Mette Frederiksen said at the beginning of the press conference, but continues: “There are also some major challenges. Therefore, we have decided to make massive investments in our health in Denmark.”
   In recent years, the healthcare sector has been under pressure from staff shortages and long waiting times. The five billion is in addition to the amount already allocated to health care. The funds will be phased in by 2030. In comparison, according to Statistics Denmark, the total healthcare system in 2022 cost a total of DKK 265.7 billion. “The fact that we can do this today as a big boost to our healthcare system, it is because the Danish economy is doing better than we expected,” says Frederiksen.
   The government will also allocate DKK 400 million this year and next year for the recovery of cancer treatment. Health Minister Sophie Løhde announced a recovery plan back in March after DR News reported that colorectal cancer patients at Aarhus University Hospital have waited too long for treatment. For some patients, this means that the cancer has spread so that they cannot be cured.
   In addition, new figures from an annual report published by the Danish Health Data Agency on Monday show that more than one in four cancer patients did not receive treatment within the prescribed deadline last year. “The figures for how many cancer sufferers survive cancer are stagnant,” says Løhde. The government is also allocating DKK 600 million annually from 2025 until a fifth cancer package is agreed. A new monitoring model will also be established to ensure that determined waiting times for cancer treatment are met. /ritzau/