Advocate for the 29,350+ neuroendocrine cancer patients across Australia and help us make a difference.
The recently released Senate Inquiry report on ‘equitable access to diagnosis and treatment for individuals with rare and less common cancers, including neuroendocrine cancer’ highlights significant barriers NET patients face and offers 41 recommendations for improvement. We need to keep these recommendations on the government’s agenda to ensure ongoing improvements in care and support for NET patients.
Now is the time for us to raise our voices and advocate for our NET community.
The Australian Government provide appropriate funding to key cancer advocacy organisations supporting patients with rare and less common cancers by providing informative resources and support services that: increase health literacy; empower patients to make informed decisions regarding their health; and are culturally appropriate and accessible in a variety of languages.
The Australian Government explore the provision of at least one specialised neuroendocrine tumour nurse, and paediatric cancer nurse, in each Australian jurisdiction.
Australian health services continue to invest in, and extend the use of telehealth and teletrial technology and infrastructure, to ensure adequate and timely delivery of diagnostic, treatment and support services, particularly for people living outside metropolitan areas.
State and territory governments provide sustained funding and participation incentives for staffing positions and training opportunities for medical professionals and researchers interested in specialising in rare and less common cancers, including neuroendocrine cancers.
The Australian Government ensures continued funding for rare and less common cancer projects to reduce existing research and clinical trial disparities.
Meet with your local MP and ask them to:
Provide on-going funding for an awareness campaign to raise awareness of neuroendocrine cancer amongst the Australian general public and healthcare professionals to improve symptom awareness and reduce diagnostic times across Australia.
Provide on-going funding to improve online resources available to neuroendocrine cancer patients, carers and healthcare professionals, including the development of culturally appropriate and multilingual educational materials to increase health literacy and patient empowerment.
Meet with your local MP and ask them to:
Provide on-going funding for a specialist neuroendocrine cancer nurse in each state to ensure adequate care to the 29,350+ Australians currently living with neuroendocrine cancer. Providing expert care will enhance overall patient support, and improve overall treatment experiences for Australian NET patients.
Meet with your local MP and ask them to:
Provide on-going funding for NET telehealth services to ensure timely and accessible specialist NET patient care, especially for those in rural and remote areas. These services would bridge the gap in healthcare access and could expand beyond specialist NET nurses, to include specialist allied health services such as councellors and nutritionists, as well as teletrials expansion so more patients can participate in trials.
Meet with your local MP and ask them to:
Provide on-going funding to promote and incentivise staffing positions and training opportunities for medical professionals and researchers interested in specialising in neuroendocrine cancers. Specialised experts in neuroendocrine cancer will lead to improved patient outcomes and reduced diagnosis times, reducing the financial burden of NET cancer treatments for the Australian Government in the long-term.
Meet with your local MP and ask them to:
Provide on-going funding to further NET research. Sustainable funding will advance NET research, improve NET treatments, and ensure equitable access to clinical trials for NET patients across Australia. It will help reduce the current disparities in research and clinical trials that affect patients with NETs and ultimately, could lead to a cure or better treatment options for Australian NET patients.
We want to ensure that we are reminding all local and federal MP’s, political leaders and people of influence on the recommendations that were released by Senate to provide ‘equitable access to diagnosis and treatment for individuals with rare and less common cancers, including neuroendocrine cancer’ any chance we get to ensure that neuroendocrine cancer patients remain seen, heard and cared for with the same level of care that is provided to patients with more common cancers.
We need the help of our NETs community to call upon your local and federal MP’s across the country and ask for their support.
In addition to reaching out to your local and federal MP, you can help raise awareness of the Senate recommendations across social media.
Download these tiles, upload onto your social media account, add your words, and tag your local or federal MP online. Every touchpoint helps!
