💊Cancer and high-cost care· 2020-2024
FNR widened cancer coverage and negotiated prices 50% lower
In September 2024 the government added coverage for three new cancers and updated ten other treatments: US$23 million more and some 700 patients a year without litigating.
Figure published by the sources
US$ 23 millones de aumento del presupuesto del FNR en el primer año (Presidencia, setiembre de 2024)
Bodies involved
Fondo Nacional de Recursos · Ministerio de Salud Pública · Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas
What it is
On 10 September 2024 the government announced the addition of new cancer treatments to the National Resources Fund —Telenoche's headline put the figure at 16—: new coverage for head and neck, ovarian and cervical cancers, plus extensions or new indications in ten existing treatments which, according to Montevideo Portal and the Health Ministry, reach thirteen conditions, including breast, lung, colorectal, liver, prostate, kidney and melanoma. The announcement was made by acting Health Minister José Luis Satdjian, Economy and Finance Minister Azucena Arbeleche, FNR general director María Ana Porcelli and National Cancer Control Programme director Marisa Fazzino.
What is questioned
According to Presidencia, the measure meant a US$23 million increase in the FNR budget in its first year and "a fall of around 50% in prices" negotiated; Telenoche reported cuts of up to 50% on some treatments and 25% on the most demanded ones. The Health Ministry reported that FNR investment in cancer drugs went from US$11 million in 2020 to US$32 million in 2023 and would reach US$57 million with the additions, and Minister Satdjian mentioned "an investment of 25 million dollars already earmarked to cover amparo lawsuits". Patients treated went from just over 2,310 in 2020 to more than 3,000. According to Telenoche, some 700 people a year would gain access without a lawsuit, against the 450 who got there through injunctions, and total coverage would rise from around 3,100 to around 3,800 patients. Montevideo Portal reported that in 2023 the Health Ministry faced 451 amparo lawsuits over these medicines and that, according to Arbeleche, the State spent US$99 million on litigation over this issue, buying "at prices that turn out to be excessive".
Why it matters to you
This is the clearest case that bulk negotiation pays off: with money previously consumed by litigation that reached some 450 patients, the State says it now serves some 700 without a lawsuit. For a patient it means receiving treatment on medical indication rather than by court order, with no lawyer's fee and no wait for a ruling.
Where it stands
Minister Arbeleche acknowledged that when access comes through amparo actions "the process is not equitable, because those who obtain it are those able to bring a claim before the courts". Oncologist María Clara Rodríguez told Subrayado on 11 September 2024 that the coverage "radically changes access a great deal" for tumours such as lung and kidney, while warning of the challenge of keeping the catalogue current given the speed of medical advances. Despite the expansion, PAHO reported that injunctions kept rising: 2,219 in 2025 and 1,328 in the first half of 2026 alone.
The open-data cross-reference
Open this set in the explorerWhat the state awarded to the bodies and companies named in this file, according to the official Compras Estatales data. It is a cross-reference for scale, not proof of irregularity: it includes contracts nobody questioned.
How this cross-reference was builteverything recorded under 2 buying units of the named bodies (not only this case) · between 2020 and 2024
Who was paid
Suppliers ranked by amount awarded in the cross-reference. A contract with several suppliers counts in full against each one: this is a ceiling, not a split.
What it bought
Spending by category, from price times quantity of each awarded item, in the contract currency.
Contracts per year
The detail
The largest contracts in the cross-reference, high to low. Tap one for its record and the link to the official purchase.
- VACUNA ANTI INFLUENZADIRECCION GENERAL DE SECRETARIA DEL M.S.P. · 03 ago. 2020$ 22,6 M
- KIT PARA DETERMINACION DEL VIRUS SARS-COV-2 POR PCR EN TIEMPO REALCABINSUR SOCIEDAD ANONIMA · 25 ene. 2021$ 9,9 M
- KIT PARA DETERMINACION DEL VIRUS SARS-COV-2 POR PCR EN TIEMPO REALCABINSUR SOCIEDAD ANONIMA · 15 may. 2020$ 4 M
- KIT PARA DETERMINACION DEL VIRUS SARS-COV-2 POR PCR EN TIEMPO REALROCHE INTERNATIONAL LTD · 29 abr. 2020$ 2,4 M
- KIT PARA DETERMINACION DEL VIRUS SARS-COV-2 POR PCR EN TIEMPO REALCABINSUR SOCIEDAD ANONIMA · 21 oct. 2020$ 2 M
- INSUMOS PARA EQUIPO DE EXTRACCION AUTOMATICO DE ADN Y ARNTRESUL S.A. · 25 jun. 2020$ 971.763
- IMPRESION DE FORMULARIODIRECCION NACIONAL DE IMPRESIONES Y PUBLICACIONES · 07 dic. 2021$ 513.400
- DISEÑO Y REALIZACION DE CAMPAÑA PUBLICITARIAMARRERO GARMENDIA ANDRES ALFREDO · 04 ago. 2020$ 357.650
- BOLSO EN LONA O SIMILARARESCHE BUFFO ALEJO · 25 mar. 2021$ 164.730
- IMPRESION DE FOLLETOSDIRECCION NACIONAL DE IMPRESIONES Y PUBLICACIONES · 02 set. 2020$ 10.372
- PAPEL PARA IMPRESORA Y/O FOTOCOPIADORA 75 G/M2MEDIZA LINARES RAFAEL MIGUEL · 29 mar. 2021$ 6.954
Amounts in pesos, normalised. Records with impossible quantities are excluded from the total. The FNR's centralised purchase is negotiated with laboratories and is not necessarily processed as a tender on Compras Estatales; the FNR is a non-state public entity. Cross-referencing can show cancer-drug purchases by ASSE and the Health Ministry, but not the price the Fund negotiated. The patient and savings figures are official projections from the announcement, not measured results.