Kerre Woodham: Beyond the headlines of the cancer report

Whenever I hear or read news headlines these days, I know that the headlines will be just that for so many people. Headlines. People won't hear or they won't read beyond the headline, and then they'll form their own opinions based on nothing more than 20 words or fewer. I've got numerous examples of that. Even people that I would have thought would understand the media, like journalists, they'll look at a headline and think, "Oh, you know, subscriber only, I'm not going to pay. I'm just going to draw my own conclusions from the headline," which they know is flawed and ridiculous. 

You have to read the body of the story. If you just go on the headline, then you are going to be misinformed. It's a bit like the cancer diagnosis headline that's in the news today. "Cancer diagnosis numbers set to skyrocket by 50% over the next two decades". As soon as I read that, I could write the text to this show myself. 

Example: Yeah, have a look at how many of them were vaxed. Join the dots, and variations on that theme. Or I could imagine people thinking, "Oh my god, cancer diagnoses are up. I'm going to die." Or putting my young activist cap on, Māori are around 1.6 times more likely to die from cancer than Pākehā or other ethnicities. So the young activists are like, "Yeah, that's right, man, institutional racism inherent in the system. Yeah. It's colonialism. That's what's causing that." 

In fact, when you look beyond the headlines, when you read beyond the headlines, there's actually a lot of good news in the story, if you are willing to take the time to read it or listen to the interviews. Since the first state of cancer report five years ago, there has been encouraging progress in key areas of prevention, early detection, and treatment. Cancer diagnoses might be skyrocketing, but that's because they've got better diagnostic tools. We can find it before it does the damage. The chance of surviving cancer has improved over the last 20 years. The five-year net survival for all cancers has improved by 15% in the last 20 years, probably due to the screening and the advances in treatment. 

And even better is the news that many, many of the cancers that afflict us can be prevented by us. We have the power to reduce our risk of some cancers, as Dr. Chris Jackson, Professor of Oncology at University of Otago and practising medical oncologist, explained to Heather du Plessis-Allan this morning. 

CJ: 20% of all cancers are related to smoking, 20%. So if you get rid of smoking, you would cut the number of cancers by 20%. So that is undisputed. 

HDPA: Even though the numbers are so small nowadays? 

CJ: Yeah, well, it's probably going to, certainly it is going down, but those people who've been smoking are still going to be going through the system for that amount of time. The number the number two cause is obesity. So New Zealand's what, the third most obese country in the world now, I think? And we're seeing a rise in some obesity-related cancers now also, and I think if we could fix that, that would be the other big thing in terms of prevention. The other key thing, which is a very New Zealand thing, is our love affair with the sun. And as we come into summer months, I think we have to reflect on the old slip, slop, slap thing. Australia has done the sun prevention thing better than we have, and our skin cancer rates are now higher than theirs. 

Absolutely. There are still many, many mysteries around cancers. 

There are cancer clusters within families, there are rising rates of healthy young people being diagnosed with bowel cancer. There is much work for cancer researchers to do. But they've also done a lot of work in the field of many cancers and have found the cause and effect. Smoking increases your risk of cancer, obesity increases your risk of cancer, ignoring sun warnings increases your risk of cancer. 

So we need to pay heed, if we want to. Make the changes you need to your lifestyle, you improve your chances of a healthy active life. Don't, get sick. Take advantage of the free buses that will take you to the free screening because early detection is the best prevention, or don't. And you'll pay the ultimate price. I mean, the headline, if you just simply looked at it, you could form your own conclusion. 

You could absolutely go off onto an interpretive dance of your own misinformation, your own prejudice, your own beliefs. Cancer diagnosis numbers set to skyrocket by 50% over the next two decades. In fact, beyond the headlines, there is so much good news in there. And one of the key messages I think that we need to take from it is the fact that we have a little bit of control and agency over our own lives, that it is not inevit

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the carry wood of morning's podcast from
News Talks head b.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Whenever I hear or read news headlines these days, I
know that the headlines will be just that for so
many people. Headlines people won't hear or they won't read
beyond the headline, and then they'll form their own opinions
based on nothing more than twenty words or fewer. I've

(00:35):
got numerous examples of that. Even people that I would
have thought would understand the media, like journalists, they'll look
at a headline and think, oh, subscriber only, I'm not
going to pay. I'm just going to draw my own
conclusions from the headline, which they know is flawed and ridiculous.

(00:56):
You have to read the body of the story. If
you just go on the headline, then you are going
to be misinformed. It's a bit like the cancer diagnosis
headline in the news today. Cancer diagnosis numbers set to
skyrocket by fifty percent over the next two decades. As
soon as I read that, I could write the text

(01:18):
to this show myself. Example, Yeah, have a look at
how many of them we asked join the dots and
variations on that theme. Or I could imagine people thinking
oh my god, cancer diagnoses are up, I'm going to die,

(01:39):
or putting my young activist cap on backwards. Natch, Mary
around one point six times more likely to die from
cancer than pak Pakiha or other ethnicities. So the young
activists are like, yeah, that's right man. Institutional racism inherent
in the system. Yeah, it's colonialism, that's what's causing that.

(02:02):
In fact, when you look beyond the headlines, when you
read beyond the head lines, there's actually a lot of
good news in this story if you are willing to
take the time to read it or listen to the interviews.
Since the first State of Cancer Report five years ago,
there has been encouraging progress in key areas of prevention,
early detection, and treatment. Cancer diagnoses might be skyrocketing, but

(02:26):
that's because they've got better diagnostic tools. We can find
it before it does the damage. The chance of surviving
cancer has improved over the last twenty years. The five
year net survival for all cancers has improved by fifteen
percent in the last twenty years, probably due to the
screening and the advances and treatment. And even better is

(02:51):
the news that many many of the cancers that afflict
us can be prevented by us. We have the power
to reduce our risk of some cancers. As doctor Chris Jackson,
Professor of Oncologie at University of Otago and to say
metal medical oncologist, explained to hither Dupliclan this morning.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Twenty percent of all cancers are related to smoking twenty percent.
So if you get real smoking that you would cut
the number of cancers by twenty percent. So that is understood, even.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Though the numbers are so small nowadays.

Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yeah, well it's probably gonna certainly there's going down, but
those people who've been smoking are still going to be
going to the system for a bet amount of time.
The number two cause is a best teap. So New
Zealand's what the third most obese country in the world now,
I think, And we're seeing a rise in some obesti
related cancers now also, and I think if we could
fix that, there will be the other big thing in
terms of prevention. The other key thing, which is a

(03:43):
very New Zealand thing, is our love affair with the sun.
And as we come into summer months, I think we
have to reflect on the old flip slop slat thing
Australia has done the sun prevention thing better than we have,
and our skin cancer rates are now hid in theirs absolutely.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
So there are still many many mysteries around cancers. There
are cancer clusters within families. There are a rising rates
of healthy young people being diagnosed with bowel cancer. There
is much work for cancer researchers to do, but they've
also done a lot of work in the field of
many cancers and have found the cause and effect. Smoking

(04:21):
increases your risk of cancer, Obesity increases your risk of cancer.
Ignoring sun warnings increases your risk of cancer. So we
need to pay heed if we want to make the
changes you need to your lifestyle. You improve your chances
of a healthy act of life. Don't get sick, take

(04:44):
advantage of the free buses that will take you to
the free screening because early detection is the best prevention.
Or don't and you'll pay the ultimate price.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
I mean.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
The headline. If you just simply looked at it, you
could form your own conclusion. You could apps absolutely go
off onto an interpretive dance of your own misinformation, your
own prejudice, your own beliefs. Cancer diagnosis numbers set to
skyrocket by fifty percent of the next two decades. In fact,

(05:21):
beyond the headlines, there is so much good news in there,
and one of the key messages I think that we
need to take from it is the fact that we
have a little bit of control, an agency over our
own lives. That it is not inevitable that we get cancer,
we get sick, and we die. There is much we

(05:42):
can do to prevent it. Early detection is the best prevention.
The treatments are good provided you go along and you
get the screenings, and you keep up to date with
your health. You pay attention to your body and you
think that you're worth it. When we look at the
numbers who are disproportionately affected by cancer, you have to

(06:05):
ask home helping themselves.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
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