Generations of Australians could have the Albanese Government to thank if it steps up at this critical moment for those living with lung cancer by adopting critical reforms set out in new Lung Foundation Australia report to save thousands of lives.
A family loses a loved one to lung cancer every hour: Lung cancer remains our nation’s
biggest cancer killer, 1 in 5 don’t receive any treatment after diagnosis, nearly half (48%) wait
more than 42 days before accessing treatment, increasing the risk of their cancer spreading, and
only 20% are still alive five years after their diagnosis.1
• Lung cancer continues to be an unfair fight: Those experiencing socio-economic
disadvantage, and First Nation Australians, are twice as likely to be diagnosed with, and die from,
lung cancer and those living in regional, rural and remote areas have a 12% lower survival rate
than those who live in major cities.1
• New report outlines three urgent interventions must be funded by Federal Government to
turn the tide on lung cancer:
- A national screening program in the upcoming October 2022 budget which will save
12,000 lives over 10 years - Investment in 100 specialist lung cancer nurses by 2025 to care for the 22,800
Australians currently living with lung cancer (up from the meagre 37 in place currently
caring for 616 each) - Better support for lung cancer survivors as 50% are dealing with anxiety, distress, and/or
depression (which is still 30% higher than other cancers)1
2 AUGUST 2022, CANBERRA – Lung cancer has held the title of Australia’s biggest cancer killer for too
long. Today, with the release of a new report – The Next Breath: Accelerating Lung Cancer Reform in
Australia 2022-2025 – in Parliament House, Canberra, Lung Foundation Australia is calling on the
nation’s decision makers to adopt key reforms that will address the systemic gaps in lung cancer
prevention, diagnosis and prognosis to save the lives of thousands of Australians.