Parliamentary Friends of Melanoma & Skin Cancer Awareness
3 March 2024
Tamara Dawson
2 min read
One thing politicians from all sides of politics can agree on is the significant burden of skin cancer in Australia.
That is why, wearing its advocacy hat, MSCAN recently led a meeting of the Parliamentary Friends of Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness at Parliament House in Canberra. We brought together world-leading researchers and clinicians and passionate consumers from across Australia to meet with politicians and policy makers to advocate for ways Australian health policy could be improved to reduce the burden of melanoma and skin cancer.
Following the 2023 launch of the Friends Group, this event was an important next step towards reducing the burden of skin cancer in Australia. It’s simple – early detection of melanoma and skin cancer saves lives. We’re advocating for a targeted national screening program for skin cancer to ensure the right skin check for the right person at the right time.
The meeting provided an opportunity for parliamentarians to hear directly from consumers with lived experience of skin cancer, and understand the complexities around the recommended frequency of skin checks and the barriers to accessing skin checks.
It also provided MSCAN the opportunity to meet with the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care and Cancer Australia to discuss what a targeted national screening program could look like in the context of Australia’s Cancer Plan – a 10-year reform agenda for the whole Australian cancer community.
MSCAN believes a targeted national screening program is vital in the war against skin cancer because, if detected early enough, skin cancer is highly treatable. Early detection means finding a spot on the skin and having it removed before it has a chance to spread deeper into the skin and to other parts of the body – before it has a chance to become lethal.
At the moment, Australia has screening programs for bowel, breast and cervical cancer, but not for skin cancer. This is despite 16,000 people being diagnosed with, and 1700 losing their lives to, melanoma every year1.
As part of the Parliamentary event, MSCAN partnered with the Australian Centre of Excellence in Melanoma Imaging and Diagnosis (ACEMID) and the Australasian College of Dermatologists to provide skin checks for Members of Parliament and Senators. The co-Chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness, the Hon. Jason Clare MP and the Hon. Darren Chester MP, were keen participants and are strong advocates for the early detection of skin cancer.
The panel discussion that followed highlighted the world-leading research that is underway at the ACEMID – a collaboration between the University of Queensland, Monash University and the University of Sydney. Using 3D total body photography, ACEMID is running the world’s largest clinical trial in skin imaging with over 15,000 participants and testing centres across Australia. Read more here.
The expert panel, explained how the 3D imaging creates total body avatars of participants which will help the 45+ university researchers on the project answer questions like:
- How often should people be screened?
- What are the most trustworthy, cost-effective, risk-tailored screening tools?
- What is the role of digital technologies (including AI) in improving screening?
MSCAN is a proud partner of ACEMID and believes this incredible research will inform and shape a targeted national screening program that is cost effective, equitable and creates better health outcomes for patients.
Given melanoma-related hospitalisations increased by 63% between 2002-2014, and melanoma and keratinocyte skin cancers represent a quarter of all cancer-related hospitalisations in Australia today((https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10546123/)), we know politicians and policy makers want to improve Australia’s approach to tackling skin cancer.
MSCAN believes a targeted national screening program will prevent more serious skin cancers and reduce the burden of the disease on our health system and the community. MSCAN will continue to advocate for this important tool to ensure Australia gets skin serious.
In addition to deaths from melanoma the quality of life and financial burden on Australians and our health system is enormous. The Australian Institute for Health and Welfare estimated in 2019/20 there were $1.463 billion costs attributed to NMSC and $259 million to melanoma, which will have increased since then due to greater availability and use of immunotherapy.
Next:
Q&A with Prof H Peter Soyer
Craig Lawn