The Australian Government’s skin cancer awareness campaign would return $2.32 for every $1 invested and prevent around 69,000 skin cancer cases over the next two decades, according to new research commissioned by Cancer Council Australia and the Australasian College of Dermatologists.
Cancer Council Australia Chief Executive Officer, Professor Ian Olver, said the report, Skin cancer prevention: a blue chip investment in public health, made a “compelling case” for the Government to re-commit in the budget to an ongoing skin cancer prevention campaign.
Conducted by Melbourne’s Deakin University, the study evaluated the results of previous campaigns against projected growth in Australia’s skin cancer burden, showing returns to government through reduced health costs of $2.32 for every $1 invested and net gains to the general economy of $90m.