A new Australian Centre for Gynaecological Cancers is to be set up by the Commonwealth Government to help combat gynaecological cancer.
The centre will receive $1 million in seed funding to support its establishment and initial operation. It will provide education and increase awareness among medical and allied health professionals about gynaecological cancers and will operate under the auspices of Cancer Australia.
The centre is part of the Government?s response to the Senate Community Affairs Reference Committee Report on the Inquiry into Gynaecological Cancer in Australia Breaking the silence: a national voice for gynaecological cancers.
The $1 million for the new centre is in addition to investments totalling almost $13.6 million over the six years to 2009 that the Government has committed to programs for women?s cancers.
Over half of this investment is delivering breast and ovarian cancer programs through the National Breast Cancer Centre (NBCC). The NBCC delivers the Ovarian Cancer Program and breast screening programs and will work closely with the new Centre for Gynaecological Cancers.
Gynaecological cancers affect the lives of more than 3,800 Australian women who are diagnosed with it each year. Over the past six years, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) provided more than $44 million for research into gynaecological cancers.
The National Cervical Screening Program has helped to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer by 57 per cent and mortality by 58 per cent in the past 10 years.