News
A new report has found women in regional areas are delaying or skipping breast cancer treatment due to cost and travel.
Support organisation Can Assist says one in five women make that difficult choice, highlighting the sudden financial stress that comes with a diagnosis.
Patients miss an average of one-and-a-half years of full-time work, significantly reducing their earning capacity.
Chief Executive, Nici Andronicus, says it's especially tough on women outside the cities:
I've been traveling a great deal across regional, remote and rural Australia, and I can tell you that women are choosing, very often, to avoid treatment altogether, mostly due to the cost, but also because of the need to be away from home. They have to travel a very long distance to get to a treatment facility, and that's just not good enough. The complexity of a cancer treatment is on another level, and that's why support close to home is so critical.
Nici Andronicus