In order to promote cancer screenings, the Government has invested $9.7 million for a new National Bowel Cancer Screening Program awareness campaign.
The Government is increasing its efforts on cancer screenings to help more Australians to get early treatment and beat the disease. The new cancer screening program will be focused on people aged fifty to fifty-nine years, Australians who are living in regional and remote Australia and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
Since bowel cancer is one of the most common cancers in Australia, the new cancer screening program aims to increase the numbers of Australians taking their free bowel cancer test.
By promoting free cancer screenings, bowel cancer can be detected early on and successfully treated afterwards.
As part of the 2021-22 Budget, the Government announced a number of measures to support national cancer screening programs. This includes the following:
- more than $100 million to improve early detection of breast and cervical cancer
- $67 million to continue the expansion of BreastScreen Australia’s mammogram services to women aged seventy to seventy-four years
- $6.9 million to establish the feasibility of a new national lung cancer program and to trial new cancer care nurses
- $32.8 million with the aim of eliminating cervical cancer in Australia by 2035 through the National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP)
The Government also held a Ministerial Roundtable with Cancer Council Australia last month, making the first step to developing the ten-year Australian Cancer Plan.
The Plan will set out the key national priorities and action areas over the next ten years to improve outcomes for Australians who are affected by cancer. The Plan will also cover prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and palliative care while providing for the needs of specific cancer types and populations.
These initiatives consolidate Australia as a world leader in the early detection of cancer.