Page 1598 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 19 May 1993
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that we can evaluate. We should be able to evaluate the data with reference to that unit specifically. Do not mistake me. I am not saying that we should in some way remove that unit. It was established with Federal funding in addition to the money that Mr Berry put into it. We should have beforehand information on how big the problem is, the extent of the problem, the focus of the problem - all those pieces of information on health. We should also be able to compare that information with information after the program has been in operation and try to determine whether it is worth putting the money into that program.
We have to be able to evaluate what we are doing - more so in less emotionally charged areas, for example, with reference to tobacco and with reference to general education. Just what is the impact of those things? Unless we support this motion, we will not have the tools available to do that evaluation. I realise that time is relatively short, Madam Speaker. It is with pleasure that I support this motion.
Mr Lamont: What happens in the other States?
MR MOORE: Just before I sit down, I will answer that interjection about what happens in the other States. Right across the other States there are cancer registries. As my memory serves me - and I think I am correct - this is the only place in Australia that does not have a cancer registry. It is really important that we also have a registry which will give us the advantage of being able to evaluate health programs.
MRS GRASSBY (12.28): Anyone would think the Leader of the Opposition had discovered a cure for cancer - a cancer register. As the Minister has mentioned, a lot can be done and has been done in the ACT to reduce the impact and incidence of cancer. Cancer is a disease of old age in the context of an ageing population. Cancer, as a proportion of all causes of death, will increase, for example, as a result of substantial reductions in cardiovascular disease mortality. While recognising the importance of the issue, it is wrong to scaremonger about the increasing cancer incidence, particularly in the light of the Government's obvious commitment to high-quality prevention and treatment services. But there are no quick fixes. It is misleading for the Leader of the Opposition to suggest that the health of ACT residents is suffering for the want of a register.
I will take the points in Mrs Carnell's motion in turn. We have good sources of death data - hospitals, morbidity data, access to reports from pathologists and self-reporting. Information from the national health surveys will be used to examine trends, the prevalence of various types of cancers, and high-risk groups within the population. These combined data sources should provide the breadth of information needed to monitor not only cancer but also other disease profiles. We can use this information to follow trends in cancer incidence.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! It being 12.30 pm, the debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 77 as amended by temporary order.
Sitting suspended from 12.30 to 2.30 pm
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