Cooling treatment for chemotherapy now reimbursed: “Keeping my hair gives back a bit of self-confidence” | Health

On the eve of World Cancer Day, at the proposal of Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke, the government has given the green light for the reimbursement of a number of treatments that reduce the harmful side effects of chemotherapy for patients.

In concrete terms, the government provides a fixed amount of 34 euros per treatment session for scalp cooling for the investment of nurses and equipment. For hand and foot cooling, 15 euros per session is provided. The new regulation will already apply to treatments from 1 January 2023. All hospitals with an oncology department can now offer the sessions to their patients. Vandenbroucke provides 3.8 million euros for the repayment.

“Hair loss, but also nerve and nail damage are very unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy and have a major impact on the social life of patients who already have to live with the verdict of cancer. From now on, we reimburse treatments that can alleviate the impact of chemotherapy on the patient. In this way, we want to encourage all hospitals with an oncology department to offer the treatments, so that as many cancer patients as possible can use them,” says Minister Vandenbroucke.

The cooling treatment was already offered in various hospitals – including UZ Leuven. Patients testified in VTM NEWS about how they experienced the treatment. “Cold and oppressive, but doable”, it sounds about the hood that should cool the scalp to 18 to 20 degrees. The temperature of the hood itself is barely -4 degrees. This should ensure that the blood vessels in the scalp contract, so that the hair roots are less affected by the chemotherapy.

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“It is already very difficult to get the diagnosis, and the hair loss adds to that. Everyone is concerned with their appearance. Keeping your hair gives back a lot of self-confidence, and that also makes the threshold to go outside smaller, “says a patient who has already undergone more than twenty cooling treatments.

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