Country GPs bringing skin cancer checks closer to home
Distance may make the heart grow fonder, but it makes access to skin cancer screening harder for people living in the country.
Access to life saving skin cancer checks, particularly in regional areas, is being supported by a program training general practitioners (GPs) across the state.
The initiative has now trained over 550 doctors, with this number expected to rise to over 630 by the end of 2025.
Around 40 per cent of enrolled GPs are from regional, rural and remote areas of South Australia – where people would otherwise need to travel long distances for a skin check.
Funded by Preventive Health SA, the Australasian College of Dermatologists’ training program boosts a GPs skill in examining and diagnosing skin lesions such as melanoma, by using a hand held device called a dermatoscope.
A dermatoscope is a specialised microscope for the skin which allows doctors to look more closely at spots on the skin. This improves early detection of skin cancer, resulting in more lives saved and less unnecessary procedures.
To complement this training, Preventive Health SA and Cancer Council SA have also funded over 190 dermatoscopes, providing these to GPs through a grant program. Dermatoscopes are awarded to GPs demonstrating the greatest need, with scoring criteria considering aspects such as rurality, socioeconomic status and melanoma prevalence in the location of their practice.
Australia has some of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. Two in three Australians diagnosed with some form of skin cancer before the age of 70.
Data from Preventive Health SA’s South Australian Cancer Registry shows that in 2021, 831 South Australians were diagnosed with melanoma. 1 in 36 South Australians are at risk of developing melanoma in their lifetime.
The sooner a skin cancer is detected, the better. Early detection means a greater chance of successful treatment and survival.
Preventive Health SA is currently investing in multiple projects to contribute to skin cancer prevention including the Same Goes for You campaign delivered by Cancer Council SA, and Project Check Mate – an initiative with the University of South Australia training regional nurses to conduct AI-assisted skin checks at regional field days, festivals and events.
More information on the GP training is available on the Dermatology Australasia website.
