Australia to launch national lung cancer screening programme on 1 July

The disease is the leading cause of cancer death in the country.

From 1 July, Australia will launch a lung cancer screening programme offering free screening through Medicare for people at high risk of the disease.

The ‘National Lung Cancer Screening Program’ offers low-dose computed tomography scans to people aged 50-70 who smoke or have a history of smoking and who don’t have the symptoms or signs of lung cancer.

Mobile lung cancer screening trucks will be available for rural and remote communities with no access to radiology clinics starting in November.

Lung cancer is the fifth most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in Australia, with over 15,000 new cases and nearly 9,000 fatalities in 2024.