An indictment of federal health policy-making (under successive governments and health ministers) has just been published in this article tracing the history of bowel cancer screening in Australia.

Amongst other things, the paper reveals apparent communication breakdowns between the Department of Health and Ageing  and the Department of Finance and Administration about the costing of a bowel cancer screening program. As a result, an appropriate allocation has never been made to enable proper implementation of the program.

There have been many other glitches and missed opportunities. As the University of Sydney researchers note in the Medical Journal of Australia: “Political, financial and institutional constraints combined to shape and limit the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program.”

The paper’s lead author, Kathy Flitcroft, Research Fellow with the Sydney School of Public Health’s Screening Test and Evaluation Program, has provided this analysis for Croakey readers.

She writes: Read more »

Multiple Myeloma By putting aside their competitive interests, two drug makers have discovered a cancer drug combo that was effective in 100 percent of patients during initial testing. KGH

The American Society of Clinical Oncology wrapped its annual conference this week, going through the usual motions of presenting a lot of drugs that offer some added quality or extension of life to those suffering from a variety of as-yet incurable diseases. But buried deep in an AP story are a couple of promising headlines that seems worthy of more thorough review, including one treatment study where 100 percent of patients saw their cancer diminished by half. Read more »