Researchers hope to boost Indigenous cancer treatment
Researchers at the University of WA will visit remote parts of the state to try to improve cancer treatment outcomes for Aboriginal Australians.
A team will look into what specific cancer care Aboriginal people need and what is already working well in the health system so it can be expanded.
Dr Shaouli Shahid says remote residents face long distances for treatment and in some communities there is little awareness of what cancer is.
She says as a result, mortality rates vary between Indigenous and non-Indigenous cancer patients.
"Smoking-related cancer is obviously much higher," Dr Shahid said.
"Cervical cancer is really high, which is kind of really low in non-Aboriginal populations. Plus the cancer which has proven to have longer survival, for example breast cancer, is kind of lower in Aboriginal Australians."
Dr Shahid says if the challenges can be addressed, alarming cancer mortality rates might be reduced.
"The death rate for males, for example, was 3.5 times than the rate for non-Aboriginal Australians and the death rate for females was 2.2 times higher than the rate for non-Aboriginal females, so you can imagine the rates are quite high," she said.
Dr Shahid and her team are hoping to visit the Kimberley in March.