Cancer and COVID-19 in Victoria: Estimating the mortality and health economic impact of delayed access to cancer services

In 2020, there has been a global decline in the diagnosis of cancer with some countries reporting a 40-60 percent decline in incidence since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts have flagged concern as delayed cancer diagnosis and treatment can increase cancer related mortality and incur additional healthcare costs for patients and the healthcare system.

A new model has been developed by the University of Melbourne that estimates a three-month delay in cancer diagnosis and treatment would result in 90 additional deaths and $12 million in additional healthcare costs in Australia over five years.

In this presentation Professor Maarten IJzerman, Head of Cancer Health Services Research at the University of Melbourne will present the background and modelling approach as well as other international studies aiming to estimate the collateral damage of COVID-19 restrictions on health outcomes. His presentation will discuss the opportunity of the universities modelling approach to study the impact of treatment delays beyond COVID-19 as they occur in rural areas, and present the case for real-time and easily accessible health data to better inform health policy.

Event details

1-2pm, Monday 29 June

Register for webinar here