Urgent Skin Cancer Prevention Call

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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Click here to access the report.

Source: pharmacydaily.com.au, Wednesday 13 July 2016