Cancer rates amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations are lower than that of Non-Indigenous Australians, however our mortality rate is higher than non-Indigenous Australians, particular amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men.
Why is the Indigenous survival rate so poor?
Why is it so hard to identify these survivors and then encourage them to speak about this major killer of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people?
There are a number of documented reasons why our survival rate and data is below that of non-Indigenous Australian. Firstly, Indigenous people are significantly more likely to have cancers that have a poor prognosis, are usually diagnosed with cancer at a later stage, are less likely to receive adequate treatment, and are more likely to die from cancers than other Australians (1).
Secondly reliable national data on the diagnosis of cancer for Indigenous Australians are not available. All state and territory cancer registries collect information on Indigenous status; however, in some jurisdictions the quality of Indigenous status data is insufficient for analyses. Information in the ACD on Indigenous status is considered to be of sufficient completeness for reporting for New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Data for these four jurisdictions were used to examine the incidence of cancer by Indigenous status (2).
In this presentation we will briefly examine:
What are the significant barriers to the early diagnosis of two major types of cancer (that have high mortality rates amongst Indigenous Australians).
Why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are still uncomfortable talking about a disease that takes so many of their communities.