Mr ANDREW: As a follow-up question, are we seeing an increase in cancers in Queensland?
Ms FENTIMAN: That is a great question from the member. Today we announced our new 10-year
cancer strategy for Queensland. We have never had a cancer strategy before and it is something I am
really passionate about. Over 33,000 Queenslanders are diagnosed every year and we do have higher
rates than other states. That is predominantly due to skin cancer. We are the Sunshine State and we
love it, but we do need to do more, particularly around prevention of skin cancer. Queensland Health
last year launched a really terrific social media campaign targeted particularly at young people about
the dangers of being exposed to the sun, and we do need to do more on that.
Our new cancer strategy looks at prevention and early detection, particularly for regional and
rural communities. It looks at expanding cancer services and it looks at support and care for survivors.
We heard from Gary today who has been involved in the strategy with us who is a cancer survivor. You
often think about going through the treatment of cancer but afterwards you still need a lot of access to
counselling, psychosocial support and sometimes financial assistance, as well as access to people who
have been through a similar journey. We are doing a lot to make sure that care is coordinated. There
are more cancer care nurse navigators in the system. We actually have over $4 million to have new
survivorship care, which is something I am really proud of

Mr ANDREW: I ask that question because the words ‘turbo cancer’ keep coming up in my
electorate. People are dying in a very short space of time after cancer is found.
Ms FENTIMAN: I think early detection and increased screening access for regional communities
is really critical. That early detection is a big part of the strategy, particularly for rural and regional
communities.