Enhancements to NZ Cancer Registry welcomed

Cancer Control New Zealand
Monday 14 February 2011

Enhancements to NZ Cancer Registry welcomed

Cancer Control NZ has welcomed the announcement today regarding Government commitment to the enhancement of the existing NZ Cancer Registry.

“The proposed enhancements and reforms will mean that clinicians, researchers, patients and health planners alike will ultimately have access to one of the most complete data sets of all cancer registries in the world,” Dr Chris Atkinson, chair of Cancer Control NZ said.

“Furthermore we applaud the commitment to a broad approach that should enable the capture of data from both the public and private sectors. While comprehensive, the enhancements should mean that there will be a minimum of administration for the lead clinicians who will have on line access to a ‘tick the box’ database which should only take a short time to fill in.

“While this sounds simple, it will mean that extensive information about the approximately 20,000 new cases of cancer will be entered into the database annually. This will provide information on numbers and types of cancers, cancer deaths, stage-specific survivals, patterns of care, participation in screening services, randomised clinical trials and multi-disciplinary decision-making.”

Such information will enable trends to be tracked. For instance if treatment for a particular cancer moves from surgery to radiation, that information will be of considerable use to health planners designing future services and budgeting for new equipment.

The registry will also provide a new window on cancer and Polynesian people giving clinicians and researchers alike with new insights into the incidence and mortality of this particular group.

Professor Atkinson said that the enhancements to the cancer registry have been eagerly awaited by clinicians for twenty years or more. “This is a huge step forward in terms of managing and treating this disease,” he said.

Cancer Control New Zealand is a Ministerial Advisory Committee providing an independent and sustainable focus on cancer control through strategic advice to the Minister of Health. www.cancercontrolnz.govt.nz.

ENDS

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