VCCC Alliance welcomes Victorian Cancer Plan 2024-2028

VCCC Alliance Chief Executive, Professor Grant McArthur AO has welcomed the Victorian Cancer Plan 2024-2028, tabled today in the Victorian parliament.

Prof McArthur said the VCCC Alliance’s five-year strategy aligns strongly with the aims and objectives of the new cancer plan. “The VCCC Alliance looks forward to continuing to work alongside the Victorian government and the cancer sector to deliver the Victorian Cancer Plan 2024-2028,” Prof McArthur said. “We especially welcome the focus in the plan on workforce, equity, consumers and research.”

VCCC Alliance equity programs were funded in the 2024-25 Victorian State Budget. These programs will improve the equitable delivery of cancer care – including to culturally diverse and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities – and palliative care for those affected by cancer in regional Victoria.

The Victorian Government has also funded the VCCC Alliance SKILLED Clinical Trial Internship program, highlighted as a case study in the current cancer plan, and a statewide consumer-led research program involving five cancer control organisations, which is led by the VCCC Alliance.

Other areas of the Alliance’s five-year strategy 2024-2029 that strongly align with the Victorian Cancer Plan include:

• A workforce that can deliver now and into the future: The Centre for Cancer Education, a wholly online learning platform launched by the Alliance in 2023, exists to upskill the cancer workforce to support career development and is accessible all across Victoria
• Empowering Victorians to prevent cancer: The Alliance’s Centre for Cancer Immunotherapy – a collaborative laboratory space – is developing new approaches to treating chronic Hepatitis B infection and liver cancer using cutting-edge mRNA technology, aligning with the plans’ approach to eliminate Hepatitis B but also equity, as liver disease and cancer disproportionately affect culturally diverse and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
• System design and delivery driven by research, data and intelligence: The Alliance’s Data Connect program which links primary care (GP) and hospital data enables research to examine cancer across the patient’s whole journey – from pre-diagnosis to diagnosis and treatment, through to post-treatment, including survivorship and palliative care. Research using this de-identified, secure data supports critical research projects examining variations in diagnostic and treatment intervals that impact clinical outcomes and can lead to life-saving earlier intervention.

Contact: VCCC Alliance Senior Communications Manager Michelle Henderson 0417765311 [email protected]