The Check Up

By Dr Skye Hueneke, Anglesea Medical Cancer screening during COVID19

The end of 2020 is fast approaching and what a strange and difficult year it's been. The Anglesea Medical team would like to thank the community for working with us to maintain a safe working environment for our staff and all our patients. The pandemic continues around the world, but in Victoria we are celebrating the end of lockdown. What a relief!

However, through the Summer, we will continue to maintain our vigilance so that, despite the pandemic, we can continue to provide safe, compassionate and comprehensive care to the community. We know from data collected through the pandemic that there has been a drop in breast, bowel and skin cancer diagnosis and referrals to specialists in Victoria. This has the potential to lead to a delay in treatment and potentially worse outcomes.

BreastScreen Victoria is now back screening women. Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women, with 17,000 diagnosis a year. All women between 50 and 74 can contact BreastScreen to arrange their free mammogram. Women outside that age bracket are recommended to talk to their GP to determine if screening is appropriate for them.

The National Bowel Cancer

Screening Program (NBCSP) for people 50 to 74 years old has continued to operate throughout the pandemic. Luckily the initial screening is done by patients at home and the test is mailed off for testing. Bowel Cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in Australia with 15,250 diagnosed per year. The NBSCP has the potential to save 83,800 lives by 2040 if we can increase participation rates from the current 40% to 60%. The more people who participate, the more lives will be saved, so if you have a testing kit sitting on a bench or in a cupboard somewhere then please get it out and do the test.

The National Cervical Screening

Program (NCSP) has also continued to operate this year. About 850 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year but this figure is falling. The NCSP along with the Human Papilloma Virus vaccine program have the amazing aim of eliminating cervical cancer altogether. If you have a cervix and are 25 to 74 years old, you can call the National Cancer Screening Register on 1800627701 to check if you are due for a test.

Lastly, as we come into Summer, we would like to remind everyone to Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek shade and Slide on the sunnies.

Skin cancers ar e our most common cancer with 777,000 diagnosis of Basal Cell Carcinoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma every year, and 12,000 Melanomas diagnosed. A screening full skin check detects abnormalities, then biopsies may be taken and skin cancers that are diagnosed can be treated with surgical, topical or ablative therapies. With skin cancers it is important to catch things early, so we encourage people to have any worrying skin spots checked. Be kind Anglesea, and keep up the hand washing, it saves lives.

References:

breastscreen.org.au, health.gov.au, can cervic.org.au

Banking on our Community

By Rob Cameron Bendigo Community Bank ®

Like all communities around the country and particularly Victoria, our region has had to make many changes and sacrifices in 2020. Some people’s lives and livelihoods have been turned upside down and some of the changes may never be reversed.

It is during these times that the true community sense comes to the fore. We have many volunteer service groups that have always been working behind the scenes, but we should acknowledge the efforts of many giving people who continue to make a substantial contribution to help ease the burden on many of our residents who are suffering the most during these times.

The volunteers at FoodLink in Anglesea have been making a huge difference to the lives of the elderly, who are finding the restriction of movement around their normal everyday lives an extra difficulty.

The little surprise packs delivered to some couples and individuals has been a blessing to the isolation that COVID has created.

The Anglesea Lions Club have also been providing support packages for those in isolation, despite their inability to source funds with community activities like sausage sizzles and Friday night pub raffles being closed down. The famous Lions Christmas Raffle will still take place, despite the different circumstances, so please look out for the volunteer ticket sellers and help make it the big success it always is. The Anglesea Community Network was able to create an important community gathering due the wonders of modern communication.

A virtual Zoom meeting was conducted with more than 60 people attending the online function to help gather a feel for how the community was coping with the forced changes. It certainly proved to be a very successful venture and highlighted again how the many community groups are coming together to share ideas and resources to make this an even better place to be. It has been a huge thrill for the Anglesea and District Community Bank to be involved with all these activities by providing a small financial contribution. Have a safe festive season and keep looking out for those around us who may still be struggling in these difficult times.