TODAY is World Cancer Day and the wider community is being asked to spare a thought for those who live in rural and remote areas and who bear a disproportionate share of the burden of the disease in Australia.
The further from a major city patients with cancer live, the more likely they are to die within five years of diagnosis.
A 2004 study found that for prostate and cervical cancers, remote patients in NSW were up to three times more likely to die within five years of diagnosis than those living in more accessible areas.
Cancer is Australia’s largest disease burden and a study by the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia in 2006 confirmed marked deficiencies in cancer services in rural and regional areas.
Most people with cancer who live in rural and remote areas need to travel to major centres for treatment, thus engendering large financial and logistical problems.
The burden of cancer in Australia is increasing as the population ages. Unless something is done to improve the situation, those in rural and remote areas will continue to bear a disproportionate share of that burden.
All Australians should have fair access to the health services they need, regardless of where they live.
However the reality is this is not true.
The balance must be redressed.
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