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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-10-18 Daily Xml
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Question Time

PINK RIBBON DAY

The Hon. L. STEVENS (Little Para) (14:17): Will the Minister for the Status of Women remind the house of the purpose of Pink Ribbon Day?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Volunteers, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister Assisting in Early Childhood Development) (14:17): I thank the member for Little Para for her question and acknowledge her very long-term commitment to the health of women here in South Australia. As many members would be aware, Pink Ribbon Day is to be held next Monday. This is a national event that raises money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation to contribute to breast cancer research, provide support for services to patients and educate women to be aware of the importance of prevention.

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and also the leading cause of cancer death for women in Australia. It is extremely concerning that about one in 11 South Australian women will get breast cancer before the age of 75. The Minister for Health and I are committed to prevention, early detection, improvement of treatment options and positive outcomes for women with breast cancer. BreastScreen SA provides a free, government-funded service that provides screening mammograms to women aged 40 and over across South Australia. In fact, BreastScreen SA has to date provided more than 950,000 free screening mammograms for South Australian women. In addition to metropolitan-based services, BreastScreen SA has mobile clinics that visit 27 country regions in South Australia.

Early detection is just so important. A national report released in June this year, entitled Efficacy of Population-Based Screening in Australia, indicates that women participating in mammography screening reduce their risk of dying from breast cancer by more than 41 per cent. One of the co-authors, Professor David Roder of the Cancer Council, said that better technologies were detecting more cancers earlier and improving survival rates through early intervention. He said, 'This has shown that BreastScreen SA is working, and it's working better than we would have ever expected.'

I recognise and applaud the commitment and hard work of the wonderful community members and workers who continue to care for, inform and educate South Australian women and their families. Organisations such as Survivors Abreast are an example of a wonderful organisation providing support and healthy activity through dragon boat racing for women with breast cancer, and there are volunteers everywhere doing their very best to raise funds and promote the importance of awareness and early detection.

Finally, I want to recognise the many women and their families who live with breast cancer. Their survival is a demonstration of their enormous strength and courage, and I encourage all my colleagues to do their bit in ensuring that they get this important message out about breast screening. We never know when it is going to touch our lives, as some in this chamber could attest. I can remember that not long after we were elected, the member for Reynell was very concerned that a close and dear friend of hers had contracted breast cancer. I was very sad to learn just a while ago that Maureen Bickley has passed away.

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