Urgent prevention call
July 13, 2016
THERE is an urgent need for
the government to invest in a
national skin cancer awareness
and prevention campaign before
the healthcare burden becomes
unsustainable, Cancer Council
Australia said today.
The call follows new data in
an Australian Institute of Health
and Welfare report ‘Skin cancer
in Australia’ showing an increase
in the number of Australians
diagnosed with skin cancer.
Cancer Council Australia ceo,
Professor Sanchia Aranda, said
while she welcomed the findings
showing a drop in melanoma rates
in Australians aged under 40, a
longstanding underinvestment
by the government in prevention
campaigns was a concern.
“The good news is that melanoma
rates in younger Australians are
dropping,” Aranda said.
“The bad news is that the overall
number of skin cancer cases and
the health system costs continue to
rise – despite skin cancer being our
most preventable common cancer.”
The Cancer Council argues that
Australia spends more than $1b per
year treating skin cancer, and costs
are “increasing substantially over
the past few years ... yet there has
been no significant investment at
the federal level since 2007.”
Aranda said a 63% increase in
melanoma hospitalisations over the
past 11 years and 39% for nonmelanoma
hospital visits further
reflected the increase in the cost.
“Whichever way you look at it,
prevention is better than cure,”
Professor Aranda emphasised.
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