Australia invests $6.8m in national skin cancer screening initiative

The Melanoma Institute Australia will collaborate with various stakeholders.

The Australian government has announced a $6.8m (A$10.3m) investment to facilitate the creation of a national targeted skin cancer screening roadmap.

The Melanoma Institute Australia will collaborate with various cancer stakeholders to develop risk-based and cost-effective screening strategies for the disease.

A key component of the programme involves improving skin cancer data collection for the Australian Cancer Database, in partnership with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

The government said that Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, with over 18,000 people last year diagnosed with melanoma.

A$1 = $0.66