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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 12 Hansard (18 November) . . Page.. 4227 ..

MS MacDONALD (continuing):

After you combine those results, which were all audited by the ACT Auditor-General and are incorporated in the annual report, you can see that Health has had an improvement in the combined budgeted operating result. This is vital to the community, for, while we are charged with delivering the best health service we can, we are also responsible to the ACT community for sound financial management. We are delivering. This Stanhope Labor government is delivering on that and much more.

The key appointments of advisers in the areas of nursing and allied health are most welcome. I would like to briefly outline why. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Australian women. In the ACT it represented 32 per cent of new cancer diagnoses and 20 per cent of cancer-related deaths in women between 1995 and 2000. Breast cancer is relatively uncommon in women under 30 years of age. The incidence increases with age and peaks in the 65 to 69 year age group. The age-standardised incidence of breast cancer within the ACT is slightly higher than the Australian rate; approximately 150 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

There is a strong correlation between higher socioeconomic status and the incidence of breast cancer. A greater prevalence of risk factors for breast cancer in the population may contribute to the higher incidence experienced in the ACT. This link reflects fertility and reproductive status. Women in the ACT are older than the national average at the birth of their first child. There is a greater likelihood not to have children and to use oral contraceptives. Women in the ACT demonstrate an earlier onset of menstruation and a later onset of menopause. Each of these factors is associated with increased risk of developing the condition.

Access to timely and high quality treatment is an important element of prognosis. There is a strong concordance of practice in the ACT with the nationally established guidelines for breast cancer treatment. The national survey of breast cancer treatment in 1995 demonstrated a substantially higher proportion of ACT women treated by experienced surgeons than was reported nationally.

The ACT has two specialist breast care nurses providing care to women who have undergone surgical treatment. Participation in the breast screen program is significantly higher among ACT women, at 51.3 per cent, than in the national population, at 48.7 per cent. This participation level may have contributed to the increased rate of detection and diagnosis.

An analysis of relative survival five years after diagnosis of breast cancer for the period 1989 to 1992 demonstrates that women in the ACT-85.3 per cent-had a better rate of survival than the national average, of 78.9 percent. This may be related to the higher participation in screening and early treatment. While the ACT rate of screening is higher than the national average, the ACT program has experienced difficulties providing screening services for an ever-increasing population of eligible women, due mainly to the limited availability of radiographers and radiologists.

The new allied health adviser has commenced working with the community of radiographers and radiologists to develop strategies designed to ensure the sustainability and development of this vital part of the ACT's health work force. I welcome this

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