Abstract
In 2019, cancer control in New Zealand was at a crossroads. Responsibility for cancer outcomes had effectively been devolved to regional hospitals, there was an absence of political accountability and there was a vacuum of strong central leadership. Outside of tobacco control there was little focus on cancer prevention and there was limited investment in initiatives to reduce cancer mortality. Despite decades of clear evidence of inequalities between the indigenous Māori people and non-Māori, a clear survival gap persisted. As a result New Zealand’s ranking in global cancer survival was falling.
Frustrated by a lack of political and policy progress, sector leaders convened the Cancer Care at a Crossroads conference at the end of January 2019. The clear focus of the meeting was to bring the attention of the public back to cancer control, to reflect on progress and challenges, to reassert the systemic changes required, and bring together a range of policy and structural options in a cogent manner. This series on the state of cancer control in New Zealand is a result of that conference.