A major international study has found Western Australia maintained comparatively strong cancer diagnosis rates during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite significant disruption to health systems worldwide.
The study, recently published in The Lancet Oncology, looked at the impact of the pandemic on cancer services across several countries and found WA generally experienced smaller declines in cancer diagnoses than many international jurisdictions.
The Western Australian Department of Health is a member of the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP). The value of this partnership is WA can measure its performance in cancer care against seven other high-income countries.
This study analysed more than 2.5 million cancer cases across Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom between 2015 and 2020. The focus of the paper was to examine the impact of COVID on cancer diagnoses in the first year of the pandemic
The study found the biggest declines in cancer diagnoses occurred in the United Kingdom, Ireland and parts of Canada, while Australia, New Zealand, Denmark and Norway generally recovered more quickly.
Western Australia maintained particularly strong prostate and breast cancer diagnosis rates compared with many overseas jurisdictions.
During the height of the pandemic, many developed countries reported fewer cancer diagnoses as public health measures, including social distancing, were introduced to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Researchers estimated around 55,000 cancer cases were not diagnosed across participating jurisdictions between April and December 2020.
Dr David Ransom, a Medical Oncologist at Cancer Network WA, said the findings highlighted the significant pressure the pandemic placed on health systems globally, including widespread disruption to cancer screening and diagnostic services.
"It is important to remember the pandemic placed extraordinary pressure on health systems worldwide, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimating approximately seven million deaths globally due to COVID-19," Dr Ransom said.
"While some disruption was experienced in Western Australia, the findings show the State's health system was able to maintain access to cancer diagnosis services more effectively than many international jurisdictions during the pandemic.
"These findings reinforce the importance of resilient health systems and maintaining access to cancer screening, primary care and diagnostic services, particularly during periods of major disruption.
"It is also a timely reminder for Western Australians to continue participating in cancer screening programs and to seek medical advice if they notice any unusual symptoms or health concerns."
