Pink Ribbon Day

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PDF printable version of Pink Ribbon Day (PDF 18 KB)

26 October 2009

Today is Pink Ribbon Day.

Every year, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Pink Ribbon Day provides a significant opportunity to promote key awareness messages about breast cancer within Australia.

The popular annual Pink Ribbon Day breakfasts have been held across Australia this morning to raise funds and awareness of breast cancer – which takes the lives of more than 2,500 Australian women each year.

Another 12,000 women will be diagnosed with the disease in the next 12 months.

Australia has a strong track record in managing breast cancer. We now have a five year survival rate of 87.8% and internationally, and we rate as having one of the best cancer care systems in the world.

However, cancer can strike any one of us - and Pink Ribbon Day is a time to remember to be Breast Aware.

The Rudd Government has been a strong supporter of breast cancer initiatives, through a range of programs and initiatives.

These include: Supporting the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre - one of the world’s leading breast cancer awareness organisations; providing $31 million over five years to reimburse external breast prostheses for women who have had a mastectomy as a result of breast cancer; $12 million to the McGrath Foundation to recruit, train and employ breast care nurses; and supporting special initiatives with the National Breast Cancer Foundation and the Breast Cancer Network Australia.

To increase early diagnosis of breast cancer in women with a high risk of breast cancer, a Medicare rebate for a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) breast scan was made available from 1 February 2009 to women under the age of 50, at high risk of breast cancer and with no symptoms.

Further, in the 2009-10 Budget, the Government announced a record $2 billion to build a world-class cancer care system in Australia, including $120 million to provide BreastScreen Australia with state of the art digital mammography equipment and $168 million for Herceptin® under the Herceptin® program, for metastatic breast cancer.

There is still much more to be done - and the Rudd Government is improving cancer care on all fronts to ensure that we keep pace with our international counterparts in the development of new therapies and early detection methods.

For all media inquiries, please contact the Minister's Office on 02 6277 7220.