TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
DEPUTY LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
SHADOW MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING
SHADOW MINISTER FOR WOMEN
MEMBER FOR SYDNEY
CATHERINE KING MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND MEDICARE
MEMBER FOR BALLARAT
LABOR’S $10 MILLION BOOST FOR BOWEL CANCER SCREENING
A Shorten Labor Government will deliver an extra $10 million to help more Australians beat bowel cancer by driving up screening rates and early detection.
Screening and early detection still give people the best chance of staying cancer free.
But bowel cancer screening rates in Australia are still too low, and fewer than 40 per cent of bowel cancers are detected early.
Of the 3.2 million people sent free bowel cancer test kits in 2015 and 2016, only 41 per cent participated.
If we can get participation up to 60 per cent, bowel cancer survival rates could improve by almost 40 per cent. It will save thousands of lives.
Labor’s $10 million commitment will allow the Jodi Lee Foundation, a bowel cancer charity, to run a national awareness campaign about the importance of screening and early detection.
This is part of Labor’s $2.3 billion Medicare Cancer Plan. Labor believes it should be your Medicare card, not your credit card, that determines access to potentially life-saving health care.
Cancer makes you sick, but it shouldn’t make you poor.
When Labor was last in government we invested around $50 million to extend the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program, providing extra screening to people aged between 60 and 70.
MONDAY, 15 APRIL 2019