7. Question No. 7—HealthDr DUNCAN WEBB (Labour—Christchurch Central) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 7—Health7. Dr DUNCAN WEBB (Labour—Christchurch Central) to the Minister of Health: How is the Cancer Control Agency driving long-term outcomes for men's health in relation to prostate cancer?Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): We know that prostate cancer is a serious issue for men's health being the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in New Zealand for men. Every year nearly 4000 men are diagnosed and about 650 die from the disease the third highest cause of death after lung and bowel cancers. I acknowledge the work of the team behind Movember and indeed some members in this House are participating—including that member and his very handsome moustache that he's growing for the cause—in advocating and bringing awareness to men's health and in particular prostate cancer. The Cancer Control Agency has a key role in modernising our approach alongside broader reforms. The agency's strong leadership supported the creation of the prostate quality performance indicator monitoring report. This report is the first of its kind in New Zealand. It compares DHB performance to others of a similar demographic and can be used to support specific improvement where there is variation. We know that insights and awareness allow us to better deliver prevention screening and treatment and overall make greater progress in reducing the harm cancer can cause to our men their whānau and communities.Dr Duncan Webb: Thank you to the Minister. What actions are being taken to improve prostate cancer outcomes for New Zealand men?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: In early 2021 the Cancer Control Agency held a forum in Wellington with lead clinicians from around New Zealand to get agreement on actions to support required improvements including best practice diagnostic guidelines. This has formed the base of our quality improvement action plan to be implemented over the next two years by services which are monitored by the Cancer Control Agency. Some of the recommended areas set out in the prostate cancer action plan to guide improved outcomes include focusing on ensuring appropriate up-to-date evidence-based practices are followed with regard to chemotherapy for prostate cancer patients; ensuring men receive evidence-based and personalised information about their treatment options from the relevant treatment specialists; and encouraging and supporting primary healthcare providers to undertake prostate specific antigen—or PSA—testing and digital rectal examination of men who have lower urinary tract symptoms or symptoms of metastatic disease.Dr Duncan Webb: What work is being done to improve cancer-related health outcomes for Māori men?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: The Wai 2575 Māori Health Trends Report in 2019 identified that prostate cancer is the most common cancer for Māori men. We therefore acknowledge that when looking to improve prostate cancer health outcomes there is an inequity here that has to be addressed. This is one of the key reasons that the prostate quality performance monitoring report is published with ethnicity data and is used to drive service improvement for this year. This way we can identify how we're tracking for tāne Māori and make sure the actions we take are improving outcomes for them. In addition the Cancer Control Agency also ensured Māori representation on the working group that identifies indicators so that this group continues to drive improved health outcomes in an equitable way. More broadly the Cancer Control Agency has also recently completed 13 community hui and 30 Māori-leader hui around the country to hear the voice of Māori co-design Māori cancer actions collaborate with cancer stakeholders and support the delivery of cancer actions across the continuum of care.