THE HON BILL SHORTEN
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
MEMBER FOR MARIBYRNONG
THE HON CATHERINE KING
SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND MEDICARE
MEMBER FOR BALLARAT
LABOR TO FUND BRCA LIFELINE AND OVARIAN CANCER ACTION PLAN
A Shorten Labor Government will provide $12 million towards Ovarian Cancer Australia’s National Action Plan for Ovarian Cancer Research, potentially preventing 2500 cases of breast cancer and 800 cases of ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer is in the top ten causes of premature death for Australian women. In the next five years, 8,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer, but sadly, it’s expected that 4,000 will die.
Investment in awareness and research is critical if this picture is to change – that’s why Labor has made this investment a priority.
Labor’s investment will see:
- The creation of a National Ovarian Cancer Registry, tracking the diagnosis and treatment of every woman with ovarian cancer in the country and giving researchers access to a database of clinical information.
- Further development of the Australian Ovarian Cancer Study’s world leading bio-specimen (tissue) bank to deepen research efforts into prevention and treatment of ovarian cancer.
- Three new clinical trials – giving eligible patients access to innovative precision treatment.
This will also mean ovarian cancer patients, survivors and their families will be contacted and urged to undertake genetic testing to see if they carry the BRCA gene mutation.
BRCA gene testing has the potential to significantly reduce the number of ovarian cancer cases in Australia.
The BRCA gene mutations increase a woman’s risk of developing ovarian cancer from one per cent in the general Australian population to 59 per cent for BRCA 1 and 17 per cent for BRCA 2.
However 11,000 women who have had ovarian cancer are yet to find out if they have the BRCA gene – leaving them and their families in the dark about whether they have a significantly heightened risk of ovarian and breast cancer.
In Government, Labor invested more than $3.5 billion to combat cancer. A Shorten Labor Government will build on this record through investments like $12 million for life-saving ovarian cancer research.
MONDAY, 5 FEBRUARY 2018