The Organisation of the Radium and X-ray Cancer Service in Australia

Abstract

When I first visited Australia at the end of 1925 and the beginning of 1926, the movement for providing better facilities for cancer treatment in Australia was getting under way. In Sydney an appeal was made for funds for cancer research and treatment, and in due course £130,000 was raised for those purposes. This sum included contributions from the Federal and State Governments. At that time I was asked to furnish a report on the foundation of a Radiotherapeutic Centre in Sydney, and this, together with an organisation for carrying on cancer research at the University, has largely formed the basis of the Sydney scheme of work. In the course of time the Federal Government and Sydney University Cancer Research Committee got into touch with one another on the cancer question, and after considerable thought the Federal Government, in which Sir Neville Howse was at that time Minister for Health, decided to purchase ten grammes of radium. This act was regarded as the most practical contribution that could be made towards dealing with the cancer problem.