Cancer Treatments

The SPEAKER: I call the member for Mount Druitt.

Mr Andrew Stoner: Bring him back!

The SPEAKER: Order! The House will come to order so we can hear the member for Mount Druitt. His words are usually very wise.

Mr RICHARD AMERY: Meanwhile, back on Earth, my question is addressed to the Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer). Can the Minister update the House on the success the New South Wales Government is having in the fight against cancer?

Ms VERITY FIRTH: Today I have released a new report showing that, for the first time on record, the number of cancer deaths in New South Wales has fallen significantly for two consecutive years. Each year the Cancer Institute of New South Wales collects and publishes data on how many cancers are diagnosed in New South Wales and how many cancer deaths there are. This year's Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence Report, released this morning, is the most extensive ever published. It contains the most up-to-date information about cancer in New South Wales, and includes an in-depth analysis of data collected by the New South Wales Central Cancer Registry.

The report found that there were 163 fewer cancer deaths in New South Wales in 2005 than there were in 2004. This follows a drop on the previous year: in 2004 there were 125 fewer cancer deaths than there were in 2003. The drop in cancer deaths comes despite the fact that as our population ages more cancers are being diagnosed. So while we are diagnosing more cancers, we are managing and treating cancers better, and more people are surviving.

The continuing decrease in the number of cancer deaths, coupled with survival rates that are amongst the best in the world, is extremely encouraging and highlights real progress in tackling this disease. In fact, there are very few places in the world where a person's chances of beating cancer are as high as they are in New South Wales. This disease is no longer the almost certain death sentence it once was. The latest incidence, mortality and prevalence report puts paid to claims that the New South Wales public health system is not delivering the highest quality of care. Everyone involved in the fight against cancer should be proud of this remarkable achievement.

The SPEAKER: Order! There is far too much audible conversation in the Chamber. This is a very important matter. The Minister may continue.

Ms VERITY FIRTH: This Government has made cancer care and control a priority, and has been working hard to implement our Cancer Plan 2007-10. The plan focuses our efforts on preventing cancer, catching it early, and making treatment more effective. Today's report shows that we are seeing dividends from this work. The wider community has embraced the important messages we have been putting out about cancer. I am sure people have not been able to miss them on television. The wider community has also embraced our important public health messages on prevention—such as the importance of eating properly, kicking the smoking habit, and avoiding unprotected exposure to the sun—and our important messages on attending regular screening so that cancers can be detected early, which greatly increases the chance of survival.

The report contains a number of interesting findings, apart from the numerical drop in the number of cancer deaths. It shows that cancer death rates have fallen by 16 per cent in men and 11 per cent in women over the past 10 years, which means that about 9,000 people are alive today who otherwise would not have been. In males the most significant decline in death rates were in stomach cancer, which declined by 35 per cent; non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which declined by 25 per cent; head and neck cancer, which declined by 24 per cent; bladder cancer, which declined by 22 per cent; leukaemia, which declined by 21 per cent; and prostate cancer, which declined by 19 per cent. In females over the same period death rates declined in cervical cancer by 47 per cent; non-Hodgkin's lymphoma by 32 per cent; kidney cancer by 29 per cent; stomach cancer by 23 per cent; bowel cancer by 22 per cent; and breast cancer by 18 per cent

For the first time, this year's report also looked at the prevalence of cancer in our community—how many people living in New South Wales today have ever been diagnosed with a cancer. At the end of 2004 there were more than 221,000 cancer survivors in New South Wales, of which almost two-thirds were accounted for by four cancers: breast cancer, melanoma, prostate cancer and bowel cancer. Altogether, 3.3 per cent of the New South Wales population was living with, or has survived, a cancer diagnosis. The Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence report presents some sobering statistics about the number of new cancer cases expected in the years ahead, namely, a significant rise driven in large part by an ageing population. Cancer is set to become even more common, with the disease likely to affect one in two men and one in three women in their lifetimes. Prostate cancer, in particular, is becoming more common and will affect more men than previously predicted. The lifetime risk of prostate cancer in men is now one in five.

The report also shows that a number of cancers still have very poor survival rates, including lung cancer, oesophageal cancer, brain cancers and mesothelioma. Worryingly, lung cancer has now caught up with breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths among women. While the breast cancer death rates have fallen by 18 per cent in the past 10 years, the death rate for lung cancer has increased by 15 per cent. This reflects the extremely poor prognosis for patients following a diagnosis of lung cancer. While we should celebrate the achievements of the New South Wales health system, the Government recognises that this is no time for complacency. Just this week it has acted to tighten tobacco laws—to ban marketing gimmicks used by tobacco companies to appeal specifically to young people.

The Government will continue to work towards the goals of the New South Wales Cancer Plan—prevention, early detection and high quality treatment services—and, most importantly, it will continue to support the research that is bringing us closer to a cure. In recent years it has invested $48 million into cancer research, with a further $97 million being allocated over the next four years. The Government has also committed $1 million to establish the Clinical Trials Business Centre, to be run by the Cancer Institute, to assist with our goal of 10 per cent of new cancer patients participating in high-quality clinical trials of new treatments. Overall, New South Wales cancer results are good. Fewer people are dying from cancer than in previous years. Today in New South Wales, cancer patients benefit from better drugs and new therapies, and are diagnosed and treated by teams of highly qualified professionals using the latest technology and surgical techniques. Cancer will be the biggest health challenge that we face over coming decades. This report shows we are well positioned for that challenge.