Media release

From: Pasifika Medical Association Group

In this study we have looked across all cancers and identified the most commonly diagnosed cancers, and the most common causes of cancer death, among Pacific peoples. We also looked at survival after a diagnosis of cancer and compared this survival between our Pacific and European peoples. We found that Pacific Peoples are much more likely to be diagnosed with (and die from) certain cancers, but not others compared to Europeans, and have poorer survival for most cancers. Our findings are most likely to be caused by a failure in our system to provide equal access to the drivers of good health, which means that we need system-level actions to prevent cancers related to infectious diseases, smoking and obesity, as well as actions to make our cancer services work better for Pacific Peoples.