Oral Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2024

Incorporating class and culture awareness into routine cancer care - strategies to promote equity in Australian cancer systems (#31)

Abhijit PAL 1
  1. South Western Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW

Australia has one of the best cancer care systems in the world but certain groups in our community repeatedly miss out on some of the life changing cancer innovations available in Australia, and suffer increased morbidity and mortality related to cancer as a consequence. These innovations include screening, timely access to surgery, access to radiotherapy, access to targeted therapy and immunotherapy, or access to cancer clinical trials. The disparities are well documented but there has been limited success in improving the outcomes for these priority populations.  Cancer systems and healthcare services can implement practical strategies to reduce these inequities including routine identification of vulnerable populations, regular benchmarking to monitor performance and investment in community engagement. This talk will cover the relationship between cancer outcomes and multiple social determinants of health in Australia including private health insurance status, reliable access to primary care, non English language preference, health literacy and class.  Finally, there will be a call to action for employing intersectionality and inequity frameworks as routine in all levels of cancer care governance to improve outcomes for priority populations.