Call for action over lung cancer rates
Push for earlier interventions, targeted screening and more drug funding
Nearly half of Bay of Plenty lung cancer patients are diagnosed after going to hospital emergency departments. Lung cancer experts say there are inequities in the system and are calling for earlier interventions, a targeted lung screening programme, funding for life-extending drugs and mobile CT screening units for isolated areas.
The figure was revealed in a recently published Te Aho O Te Kahu – Cancer Control Agency report that showed 47.8 per cent of patients — 254 people — were diagnosed after visiting the hospital emergency department.
The report found 79.6 per cent of patients in the Bay of Plenty DHB area died within three years of being diagnosed. About 60.1 per cent died within the first year.
In the Lakes DHB area, 63.3 per cent died within the first year — the worst survival rate in New Zealand.
For Rotorua’s Anita Reid, coughing up blood was the sign that it was too late.
A non-smoker, she was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 2018.
She died last month, with her family by her side.
She had spent tens of thousands of dollars on treatment and protested at Parliament over inequalities in the health system that made her feel like a second-class citizen.
Now her daughter, Amanda Watson, is carrying on her mother’s advocacy.
“Mum would want me to do that.” A cough and a heart condition plagued Reid for years, but she realised things were serious while holidaying in Rarotonga.
“She coughed up blood in Rarotonga, and she told my brother when we got back,” Watson said.
“He said, ‘you need to get the