Thursday, 30 November 2023

Breast screening

David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (18:36): (649) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health in relation to breast screening services for women living in the outer western suburbs of Melbourne. In 2021, 4954 Victorians were diagnosed with breast cancer. It is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Victorian women after lung cancer. We know that screening and early cancer detection increase the chances of successful treatment and save lives. A recent report revealed that areas across Australia with a high multicultural composition tend to have lower rates of cancer screening, putting many culturally and linguistically diverse communities at risk. This is true in my own electorate, which has a highly diverse population and records significantly lower screening rates than other parts of the state.

Several factors prevent women from culturally and linguistically diverse communities in the west from accessing screening services, including lack of awareness, limited transport options, language barriers and a lack of cultural safety for migrant women. So while BreastScreen Victoria has locations in the west which offer a wonderful service, providing free mammograms and follow-up tests, women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are all too often not accessing these services. They are, however, much more likely to visit their local community health centre, where the GPs and nurses are known and trusted by the community, translation services are available and a sense of cultural safety is afforded to women from CALD communities. They are best placed to encourage women to get themselves screened. If women are unable to travel to screening locations, why can’t the screening come to them? We know that BreastScreen Victoria has mobile bus services which operate in regional Victoria. With additional funding they could bring their mobile screening bus to the women of Melbourne’s west. So the action I seek is that the Minister for Health ensure additional funding is provided in the next state budget for the expansion of BreastScreen Victoria mobile services into Western Metro Region.