Australian Cancer Prevention - Strategy 2020

Each year 40,000 lives are cut short and many others are profoundly disrupted by cancer.

One in three Australians is likely to be diagnosed with cancer in his or her lifetime. Our discussion paper, Cancer Prevention in Australia - Strategy for 2020, reveals 45% of this $81 billion cancer burden is preventable by addressing just six factors:

1. Tobacco
2. Lifestyle
3. Alcohol
4. Ultraviolet radiation
5. Occupational carcinogens
6. Unsafe sex.

A further 4% could be avoided by increased screening for lung, colorectal, breast and prostrate cancer. The cost of cancer in terms of disability adjusted life years can be valued at $81 billion a year, equivalent to four times what the nation earns from coal exports or a third of our total retail spending each year.

While hoping to achieve the full 49% reduction may be unrealistic, we recommend Australia sets a goal to reduce the preventable burden of cancer by 20% by 2020 through changes in behaviour and screening.

This reduction is achievable, and the strategy would also deliver benefits in reducing the incidence of other diseases.

As a firm, we have a long standing interest in using our skills in fact-based analysis, which we apply on a daily basis to the business problems facing our private sector clients, to improve the health sector and the health of the Australian community:

• The firm and its Directors acted as the secretariat for the Wills and Grant reviews of Australian Health & Medical Research
• We have performed numerous pro-bono projects for NSW & SA Cancer Councils and some work for State Health Departments

From this work, we have observed that there is huge scope for improvement in Australian health outcomes given the current level of investment in health care, the excellence of Australian health research and the world class leadership and management skills Australia now possesses in other industries:

• Advances in medical research, particularly genetics, are on the cusp of delivering much better understanding and treatment of cancers
• There is a large body of biomedical research that has been completed but not yet implemented in the health system due to a lack of translational research
• The application of basic management science is insufficient in health sector management, particularly the public sector (eg using cost/benefit analysis as a primary decision tool, strategic planning, mining customer information, improving safety and quality)

While we approached Cancer Prevention with expectations that only incremental improvements would be possible, given the complexity of the disease itself and the Australian health system, we found scope to make a major impact on cancer with a strategy focused on multiple, measurable improvements:

• Around 50% of the cancer burden is preventable with current medical and psycho-social knowledge and relatively little change in healthcare delivery
• The Return on Investment of a $1bn investment could be up to 700% for cancer alone, compared with the 25%-50% we usually see in our work for private sector clients
• The key requirement to achieve this ROI is to drive behaviour change in the community; In particular, to change the belief that cancer is caused by dark external forces like pollution, pesticides or mobile phones rather than individual choices on nutrition and exercise and the consumption of tobacco and alcohol

We hope this document is read in the spirit we intend - to provide a useful contribution to the ongoing health debate in Australia - and that this leads to action:

• Governments take a more rigorous approach to health policy development using strategic thinking approaches now routine in the private sector
• Healthcare administrators take responsibility for successful execution by adopting measurable targets, reviewing progress frequently and making necessary adjustments while remaining focused on the same strategic goals
• Individuals adjust their behaviour and influence those they care about so that, as a community, we can defeat cancer

Download Australian Cancer Prevention - Strategy 2020 - SHORT VERSION

Download our factsheet: "Strategically Reducing Your Cancer Risk"

The Australian Newspaper recently featured our report in an article titled, "Better habits key to cutting cancer toll" by Adam Cresswell, Health editor, published on October 11, 2008.

View the article online

Download a PDF of the article

Download Australian Cancer Prevention - Strategy 2020 - LONG VERSION

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