It was impossible to miss the significance of health equity on the national agenda for cancer care at the 2022 COSA Annual Scientific Meeting.
The scene was set in the opening plenary session as conference convenors Professor Sabe Sabesan and Associate Professor Rahul Ladwa chaired a sobering session outlining considerable current gaps in the system.
A challenging and inspiring opening plenary session at #COSA22 diving into inequities in cancer care with Prof Sabe Sabesan, Dr Ben Smith and Prof Jane Ussher looking at system-level inequities and how to address them for minoirty populations @Sabesan68 @JaneUssher @cancer_K2A pic.twitter.com/3cLs7p3k39
— VCCC Alliance (@VCCCAlliance) November 2, 2022
The 2022 theme – Equitable cancer care for all – maintained constant visibility throughout the three-day conference, and it was encouraging to see the clear passion of all in attendance to address inequities.
A major highlight of the conference was the plethora of VCCC Alliance representation.
Regional Oncology Lead Associate Professor Craig Underhill featured throughout, with presentations on regional trial access and the Victorian Teletrials Collaborative, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander access to cancer clinical trials.
Great to see @CraigUnderhill show that despite COVID-19 disruptions, the number of regional patients recruited to #clinicaltrials has increased 4-fold to 620 patients, driven by uptake of teletrials and registry trials #COSA22 @COSAoncology @RtnVic @awcancertrust pic.twitter.com/nexWcfsdmb
— VCCC Alliance (@VCCCAlliance) November 3, 2022
Dr Kalinda Griffiths, VCCC Alliance Research and Education Lead, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, was a force on the final day, presenting at our Breakfast Symposium (co-hosted with VACCHO) before delivering a stirring and impactful plenary on Indigenous data sovereignty as a stepping stone to achieving equity.
Always inspiring to hear Dr Kalinda Griffiths’ passion for tackling #inequity head-on
