Aussie immigrants hit harder by cancer

SYDNEY, July 11 (UPI) -- Non-English-speaking newcomers to Australia's New South Wales are more likely to die of cancer than Australian nationals, survey results indicate.

The Cancer Council of New South Wales said a survey of more than 31,000 people age 50 or older in the Australian state indicated immigrants may be endangering themselves by not undergoing screenings for breast and bowel cancer, the Sydney Morning Herald reported in its Sunday edition.

Immigrants accounted for 26 percent of men in the survey, for which no margin of error was given, and 22.5 percent of the female participants.

Council chief executive Andrew Penman said the results indicated the longer an individual lived in Australia, the more they underwent such cancer screenings.

Results indicated certain immigrant groups are up to 60 percent less likely than New South Wales nationals to be screened for cancer.

"If this trend continues we could face a devastating situation where (immigrants) experience a disproportionately high number of cancer deaths over the coming decades," Penman said. "We cannot allow this to happen."

Survey researchers said the trend could be due to language barriers between those immigrants and screening officials.