The Australian Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator the Hon Helen Coonan, announced at the 2007 Field of Women Live Event at Telstra Stadium that a new information resource would be made available for women to assist them combat secondary breast cancer.
Funding of $100,000 allocated to the Breast Cancer Network of Australia (BCNA) will assist in the production and distribution of a kit for women providing them with information and advice in the event that they experience a recurrence of the life-threatening disease.
The Hope and Hurdles pack, containing information about national forums, a photographic exhibition, and information about services and support would be available free to women diagnosed with secondary breast cancer.
Senator Coonan said the pack follows on from a 2005-06 Federal Budget initiative called My Journey Kit, funded by the Federal Government and produced by the BCNA which documents information that may help equip newly diagnosed women with information about breast cancer.
?Survival rates for breast cancer in Australia are at an all time high. That does not lessen, however, the trauma that this disease causes many Australian women.
?What is particularly devastating is when women have to face it for a second or even third time.
?It is crucial that information about the disease itself, the various stages, the experiences of other women, and the range of support and treatment services are in reach of all women.
?Women with secondary cancers are particularly vulnerable and it is important that they are made aware that this stage is yet another important step in combating the disease,? Senator Coonan said.