Patients from Vietnam’s Mekong Delta must travel hundreds of kilometres to receive cancer care, and the journey brings hidden financial and emotional strain that many families cannot bear. Understanding this burden helps reveal why many patients feel trapped between health needs and financial ruin.

The trip from Ca Mau to Ho Chi Minh City covers more than 350 km and lasts about eight hours on a sleeper bus. Giap Diep Co. normally charges VND250,000, but director Nguyen Thi My Diep says the fare is reduced to VND200,000 for patients. On the 1st and 15th lunar days the company cuts the price by another 50 percent.

Because doctors may cancel chemotherapy if blood tests show low cell counts or organ problems, patients like Nguyen Minh Long and his wife Le Thi Hien travel a day or two early. They accept the extra cost of cheap lodging to avoid the fear of ‘missed prescriptions,’ even though their incomes are very low.

A newer targeted biological drug costs about VND20 million per cycle. Tran Phuoc Duc, a 53‑year‑old lung‑cancer patient, has spent his whole VND200 million life savings on travel and treatment and is considering selling his last piece of land for a tenth cycle. Tran Trung Tinh, who has stage 4 colorectal cancer, reports that out‑of‑pocket costs have drained more than VND400 million despite 80 % health‑insurance coverage, forcing him to sell land, borrow money and become bankrupt.

Nguyen Thi Bong, a 48‑year‑old single mother with breast cancer, has paid over VND40 million for surgery and three months of chemotherapy. She raised VND5 million from relatives and borrowed the rest, saying she lies awake worrying about the illness and the debt that will not disappear.

These personal accounts show that long‑distance travel, discounted fares, and the anxiety of missing a prescription combine to push low‑income families into severe debt and emotional distress. The hidden cost of seeking care is as heavy as the disease itself.