Thank you to BioPharma Dispatch for helping highlight what the new data has confirmed and what NeuroEndocrine Cancer Australia (NECA) has long been warning. Where you live and how much you earn is starting to determine whether you survive neuroendocrine cancer.
The findings, drawn from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare figures and covered this week by BPD Insights, show neuroendocrine cancer bucking the national trend of fairer, improving cancer outcomes. People in disadvantaged communities are dying at higher rates, rural and remote patients are being diagnosed faster than anyone can treat them, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians continue to face substantially higher incidence than the rest of the population.
NECA CEO Meredith Cummins says the data puts a number on something patients have described for years.
“This isn’t simply a cancer story. It’s an equity story,” she said. “No Australian should have a poorer chance of accessing specialist care simply because of their postcode.”
It’s why NECA’s specialist nurses, counsellors and dietitians delivered more than 75,500 minutes of virtual, one-to-one support last year to patients who can’t easily reach a specialist in person and why that work is now at risk. The Australian Cancer Nurse Navigation Program, which funds these services, is due to expire in June 2027 without further government commitment.
Want to help support NECA’s work to close the gap? Head to our Advocacy page to access documents and scripts you can take to your local MP.
