No. 13 
More funding for cancer services to meet increasing demand

ACT Minister for Health, Katy Gallagher, announced today that the 2010-11 ACT Budget provided new funding of $4.184 million over the next four years for cancer services to help meet continuing and emerging demand for cancer care.

“The incidence of cancer within the community continues to rise, with the number of cancer cases in Australia doubling between 1981 and 2005,” Ms Gallagher said.

“Over the past three years, inpatient activity has increased by almost 30 per cent, and outpatient occasions of service increased more than 15 per cent in just two years.

“This new funding will provide the Capital Region Cancer Service with the necessary resources to meet the growth in demand in 2010–11 and the impacts of that growth over future years,” Ms Gallagher said.

The Minister said the Government was delivering on an election commitment to allocate an additional $10.3 million for growth in cancer services over the period to 2012–2013.

“The increased incidence of cancer in our community is directly related to a considerable increase in cancer-related health service activity, and this increase is anticipated to continue well into the future,” Ms Gallagher said.

“This growth in incidence is expected to increase further over the next decade due to the ageing of the population and increases in life expectancy.

“This Government will continue to invest in health as a priority and target spending initiatives like this at areas of need in the community,” Ms Gallagher said.

4 May 2010	
Media Contact: 	Kathryn Robert   		6205 0242 (w)   0402 399 907 (m)
	kathryn.roberts@act.gov.au