New Breast Cancer Nurses for Regional Australia
The Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, today announced that specialist breast cancer nurses will be placed in 44 new locations across Australia after a $12 million commitment by the Rudd Government.
The Minister for Health and Ageing was joined by Glenn McGrath, former Australian cricketer and co-founder of the McGrath Foundation, in Canberra to outline the communities that will benefit from the investment.
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13 October 2008
The Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, today announced that specialist breast cancer nurses will be placed in 44 new locations across Australia after a $12 million commitment by the Rudd Government.
The Minister for Health and Ageing was joined by Glenn McGrath, former Australian cricketer and co-founder of the McGrath Foundation, in Canberra to outline the communities that will benefit from the investment.
The Rudd Government has provided the McGrath Foundation with funding over the next four years to recruit, train and employ the nurses in 44 new locations across Australia.
This initiative will enable more women diagnosed with breast cancer, especially those in rural and regional areas, to see nurses who have specialist breast care skills and training.
The specially trained registered nurses will provide vital information, care, and practical and emotional support to women diagnosed with breast cancer, their families and carers.
The nurses are being placed in areas that need them most and in locations where access to a full-time breast cancer nurse is not currently available. Eighty nine per cent of nurses will be located in rural and regional areas.
All the breast cancer nurses will be part of a multidisciplinary team, and employed in the public health system.
Locations for the nurses have been negotiated by the McGrath Foundation in consultation with the state and territory governments, based on area of need.
The locations are –
- NSW: Shoalhaven, Moree, Armidale, Coffs Harbour, Mudgee, Bathurst, Cooma Monaro, Young, Griffith, Goulburn, Wagga Wagga, Campbelltown, North Sydney, Hornsby;
- VIC: Shepparton, Benalla, Ballarat, Horsham, Geelong, Warrnambool, Colac, Warragul, Bairnsdale, Sale, Swan Hill;
- QLD: Cairns, Mackay, Mount Isa, Gympie, Hervey Bay, Gladstone, Kingaroy, Warwick, Dalby, Roma;
- SA: Wallaroo, Berri, Victor Harbor;
- WA: Bunbury, Geraldton, Albany;
- TAS: Hobart;
- ACT: Canberra; and
- NT: location to be confirmed.
Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer diagnosed in women in Australia, with more than 12,000 new cases diagnosed each year. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The McGrath Foundation was co-founded by Mrs Jane McGrath and her husband Glenn McGrath after Jane’s diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer in 2002. During her treatment for secondary cancer in 2003, Jane McGrath had access to a breast cancer nurse. Sadly, Jane McGrath passed away on 22 June 2008.
The breast cancer nurses initiative was announced in the Federal Budget. It is one of a number of new investments by the Government to help women and the health sector to combat the disease.
The Government also provides funding for the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer centre, a world leading centre fostering an evidence-based approach to the diagnosis, treatment and support of women with, or at risk of, breast cancer.
To further support women with breast cancer, the Government has also committed funding of $31 million for the reimbursement of external breast prostheses for women who have had a mastectomy as a result of breast cancer, as well as integrated cancer care facilities and research.
Funding of $2.5 million was announced at the start of breast cancer month to support a research study with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to gather vital data from up to 100,000 women that may help to reduce the impact of breast cancer in Australia.
Media contact only: Mark Ward - 0437 125 938
For all other enquiries, contact Ms Roxon's office (02) 6277 7220
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