31st October 2007
Wake Up Call for Child Cancer Treatment
“Like every New Zealander I am shocked by the news that funding for child cancer is so inadequate. It’s no wonder
District Health Boards run up massive debt when such a basic service is woefully compensated for,” the Chief Executive
of the Cancer Society Dalton Kelly, said today.
News that funding by the Ministry of Health for child cancer services mainly reflects ‘secondary’ procedures, and does
not adequately compensate tertiary care comes on the heels of the Cancer Society’s repeated insistence that cancer
treatment in New Zealand is hugely under-resourced and desperately needing reprioritizing in government health policy.
“It’s great that we have a Cancer Control Strategy with an action plan to support it, but we don’t have a single
organisation or entity with the responsibility and the resources for actually delivering on that plan.
“Despite the Government’s ‘stated’ priority objective of reducing the incidence and impact of cancer, its failure to
provide any particular body with the responsibility to lead, coordinate and drive the action plan means that very little
has, in reality, been achieved.
“Translated into patient care realities, this means children with cancer being passed from hospital to hospital in
different regions for care, women with breast cancer being sent to Australia for radiation treatment, while other women
are being treated with a truncated, unproven course of Herceptin.
“New Zealand is not equipped to provide modern, holistic and appropriate cancer care given the increasing demands of a
greater number of patients each year, the increasing complexity of treatment and the growing focus on the rights of the
family to receive the best back-up information and support services.
“Cancer is one of our biggest health threats, but it does not receive the resourcing it warrants or needs. You just have
to look at treatment waiting lists and cancer equipment and new drug wish lists to see we are behind the eight ball and
falling further behind each year,” Mr Kelly concluded. The Cancer Society of New Zealand is the leading charity
dedicated to reducing the incidence of cancer and ensuring the best cancer care for everyone in New Zealand.
ENDS