THE Jimmy Little Foundation has partnered with West Dubbo Rotary to campaign for a cancer centre in Dubbo.
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The foundation’s director Frances Peters-Little, daughter of well-known signer and Aboriginal health advocate Jimmy Little, said having a diagnostic and treatment facility in Dubbo would save lives.
“Aboriginal people are dying of various cancers 20 years younger than the national average. We all know early diagnosis saves lives but that isn’t happening due to the financial, emotional and physical restraints of getting to existing cancer facilities,” Ms Peters-Little said.
She said families from far western NSW had to travel to Orange, Canberra or Sydney to see a cancer specialist.
“If you live at Lightning Ridge (like I do) it’s a nine-hour car trip to Sydney. A single trip equates to at least a thousand dollars when you include travel, food and accommodation for the patient and their family members.”
“A lot of Aboriginal families living in remote areas have extended family in Dubbo so the support is there.”
She was “quietly hopeful” they would secure funding from the next government.
