Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today is Pink Ribbon Day 2010 and, as the shadow parliamentary secretary for the status of women, I welcome the opportunity to raise awareness about breast cancer by acknowledging and supporting the Cancer Council’s Pink Ribbon Day. The month of October is internationally recognised as breast cancer month and I have personally had the pleasure of attending Pink Ribbon breakfasts throughout the month to raise funds for and awareness of breast cancer. Recently in Perth I attended the National Breast Cancer Foundation Global Illumination ‘Touch of Pink’ breakfast, hosted by Crosslands Resources. Over 550 men and women attended this event, which is a testament to how seriously we now take breast cancer as a society.

Pink Ribbon Day is now an annual event. It is a day when Australians can come together to show their support for the thousands of women who battle breast cancer. It raises awareness about breast cancer and funds raised on the day help to support those suffering from the disease. The reality of breast cancer is that this year alone between 12,000 and 14,000 Australian women will be diagnosed with the disease. One in every nine Australian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer by the age of 85. Sadly, it is estimated that at least 2½ thousand will lose their lives to the disease. I lost my paternal grandmother to breast cancer. She passed away nearly 50 years ago, when she was just slightly older than I am today, and she left behind my grandfather and four young children, including my father.

Breast cancer is now the most common form of invasive cancer amongst Australian women. It accounts for more than one in four cancer diagnoses. Whether it be a mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, cousin, friend or workmate, breast cancer affects us all. By supporting the Cancer Council’s Pink Ribbon Day and breast cancer month generally, we can assist the Cancer Council to provide the necessary support services to improve the quality of life for those affected by breast cancer and, of course, support research into potential new treatments. Funding research into breast cancer is one of the best ways we can work together as a society to protect those we love from this life-threatening disease.

As breast cancer is so prevalent amongst women, Pink Ribbon Day is a pertinent reminder to women that they need to be aware of changes in their breasts. At the end of the day, it is always better to be safe than sorry. Women should undertake regular mammograms regardless of any perceived inconvenience, as they are crucial if we are to detect breast cancer early. As the Cancer Council states:

Women whose cancer is still contained in the breast when diagnosed have a 90% chance of surviving five years, compared with a 20% five-year survival chance when the cancer has spread at diagnosis.

                  …              …              …

Research showed that early detection of breast cancer through mammography helps to save women’s lives. Research also produced new knowledge of the best way to treat breast cancers using chemotherapy and hormones. The combination of early detection and better treatment has led to a steady reduction in the death rate from breast cancer since 1994.

Doctors are now able to better predict how a particular breast cancer will react to treatment and match the most effective treatment to their patient.

Women therefore must be vigilant to fight breast cancer and schedule routine mammograms. My grandmother did not have the option of a mammogram when she was told that she had breast cancer. Perhaps if she had, her cancer would have been diagnosed and she would be here with us today and my father and his two brothers and his sister would have had a mother to bring them up.

Tonight, on Pink Ribbon Day, I would also like to commend the really important work of the National Breast Cancer Foundation and, of course, the McGrath Foundation. These important organisations supplement the hard work of doctors, nurses and other dedicated health professionals who help the thousands of Australian women who battle breast cancer. The National Breast Cancer Foundation was established in 1994. It is a not-for-profit organisation that promotes and supports breast cancer research in its many forms. The foundation has over time allocated in excess of $55 million to over 230 breast cancer research projects nationwide. The foundation is critical to Australian breast cancer researchers. It offers a significant and substantial source of funding. Researchers can compete for the funding available, provided their projects are of the highest order and are assessed to be worthy under the peer review system that operates for medical and health research in Australia.

One of the interesting research projects that the National Breast Cancer Foundation is currently funding is researching the link between family history and the risk of developing breast cancer as part of the kConFab project. One of the objectives of the kConFab project is to identify families with an increased risk of breast cancer and to monitor them to determine if other contributing factors, such as diet or lifestyle, impact on developing breast cancer. Other important research projects that the National Breast Cancer Foundation has funded include training doctors in communication skills to communicate with women who have been diagnosed with the disease and surveys looking at the emotional concerns of women with breast cancer.

Since the formation of the National Breast Cancer Foundation, death rates from breast cancer have fallen. This is as a result of the improvements in treatment and the early detection of breast cancer—and again I go back to why women should regularly schedule mammograms, regardless of what we all might say is an inconvenience in actually having to go and have one. It is breast cancer researchers who made the remarkable discovery that early detection of breast cancer through mammography can help save women’s lives.

Another important breast cancer organisation in Australia is the McGrath Foundation. When Australian cricket champion Glenn McGrath’s wife, Jane, was diagnosed with breast cancer, Glenn became famous for something very different from his cricket skills. He became famous for his dedication and the support he gave to his wife Jane throughout her battle with breast cancer. Of course, they are now famous for the creation of the McGrath Foundation. The McGrath Foundation raises money to place McGrath breast care nurses in communities right across Australia. McGrath breast care nurses are health professionals who are specifically trained to manage the care of breast cancer patients during the course of their treatment.

The nurses are the principal liaison between patients and the specialists who coordinate treatment. The nurses also play an important advocacy role and they help patients by clarifying any information that a patient may not understand. Importantly, the McGrath breast care nurses give crucial emotional support to patients and their families during these extremely difficult times. A McGrath breast care nurse can greatly improve a breast cancer patient’s quality of life, because a patient has one main source of information and contact during their treatment plan. The support that a McGrath breast care nurse gives can help to minimise the stress and trauma that a breast cancer patient and their family experience.

The McGrath Foundation aims to provide a breast care nurse for every family affected by breast cancer in Australia, regardless of their location or background. To date, the McGrath Foundation has provided over 50 McGrath breast care nurses nationwide. I urge Australian breast cancer sufferers and their families to contact the McGrath Foundation and see if they can provide you with the assistance that you need during your battle with this disease.

On Pink Ribbon Day I commend the National Breast Cancer Foundation and the McGrath Foundation on their outstanding achievements to assist breast cancer sufferers in Australia. I truly hope, because of my grandmother, that the National Breast Cancer Foundation’s extensive research one day finds a cure to finally end breast cancer forever and that Australians no longer have to lose any of their loved ones to this often fatal disease.