March 2004

Telstra answers Peter Mac call

A $1 million partnership between the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute and Telstra will result in a pioneering program to improve co-ordination and delivery of services for adolescents and young adults with cancer.

Launching the partnership, Telstra’s Chief Executive Officer Ziggy Switkowski said Peter Mac was an ideal partner because of its emphasis on excellence, innovation and compassion.

The new program—an Australian first—will target the specific needs of adolescents and young adults with cancer.

Over the next three years the program will:

• Provide co-ordinated medical, psychological and support services to address the needs of young people with cancer, regardless of where they live in Victoria;

• Conduct research to develop and implement national best practice guidelines for cancer care for this age group;

• Encourage and support adolescent and young adults with cancer to participate in national and international clinical trials;

• Involve patients, their carers and consumer groups in the planning, implementation and evaluation of the program.

Adolescents and young adults with cancer face unique physical, social and emotional challenges.

These include the impact of cancer diagnosis and treatment on their social development, peer relationships and educational and employment opportunities.

Chair of Peter Mac’s paediatric, adolescent and young adult cancer services and Director of the program Dr Maree Sexton said that psycho-social and educational services were an integral part of the program.

‘We will be consulting patients and their families through focus groups to identify their needs.

‘Organisations like CanTeen, the Cancer Council Victoria and the Centre for Adolescent Health will provide invaluable services in conjunction with the program,’ Dr Sexton said.

‘We will be working closely with Peter Mac colleagues and with cancer services, initially in strong collaboration with the Royal Children’s, the Royal Melbourne and St Vincent’s Hospitals.

‘As the program develops, we envisage collaborating with all cancer services in Victoria.

‘The service aims to ensure that young people with cancer get the best treatment wherever they are treated and wherever they live.’

Providing education and support services to general practitioners and specialists in country Victoria is also a priority for the program.

Telstra Country Wide Regional Managing Director Lawrence Paratz said that Telstra’s technology would play an important role in communicating with health and medical professionals in regional and rural Victoria.

Telstra’s partnership with Peter Mac is an initiative of the Peter Mac Cancer Foundation, established in March 2002 to facilitate the goals of the Peter Mac Cancer Centre.

The Foundation has secured financial commitments worth more than $5.6 million to support cancer treatment and research at Peter Mac.