The Preventative Health Journal - Australia & New Zealand

Australia’s next government must close a yawning gap in the nation’s cancer control response by committing now to fully implementing the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program before more lives are lost unnecessarily, Cancer Council Australia has said.

Releasing Cancer Council Australia’s nine-point cancer plan for the next term of federal parliament, chief executive officer, professor Ian Olver, said screening all Australians aged 50 and over every two years for bowel cancer was the best investment an Australian government could make in reducing the human and economic cost of cancer in Australia, both in the short and longer term.

“Both sides of politics are committed to introducing bowel cancer screening back in 2004, when Julia Gillard was shadow health minister and Tony Abbott was health minister, so the benefits should be well understood by both sides of politics,” professor Olver said.

“Yet two terms of office later, the program – which could save 30 lives a week if fully implemented – consists of a one-off test only to people turning 50, 55 and 65, with no funding beyond this financial year.

“Given that breast cancer screening was fully available within five years of a whole-of-government agreement in 1990, and bowel cancer claims more Australian lives, this election should be the time for a bipartisan commitment to a proper bowel cancer screening program.”

Cancer Council Australia also calls on political parties to: re-introduce the national skin cancer awareness campaign; abolish duty-free tobacco sales and set a minimum floor price; support a comprehensive obesity strategy; review alcohol taxation, marketing and promotion; review gene patent laws; fix remote patient travel schemes; announce a national cancer research strategy; and commit to a cancer workforce review.

“Cancer should be a critical election issue, as 650,000 Australians are living with cancer right now and another 115,000 are expected to be diagnosed this year alone,” professor Olver said.

“Decisions the next government makes could have a profound impact on how early cancers are diagnosed, how well we support people living with cancer and how many cancers are prevented through informed lifestyle change.”