Melanoma Summit 2008

It was an exciting day on November 14 2008 when over 230 people gathered in Wellington for the inaugural New Zealand Melanoma Summit. Melanoma is the fourth most common type of cancer for both men and women in New Zealand, with nearly 2000 new cases a year. New Zealand and Australia have the highest melanoma incidence rates in the world. The summit was designed to bring together everyone involved in melanoma in New Zealand.

Annie Ackerman spoke on behalf of the Melanoma Foundation. She joined speakers who have melanoma in presenting the consumer’s experience. Leading international speakers included Prof Mark Elwood (Canada), Assoc Prof Scott Menzies (Sydney) and Prof John Thompson (Sydney). The Melanoma Foundation was proud to sponsor Professor Thompson’s visit. Many distinguished New Zealand speakers covered a wide range of issues, including prevention, the consumer perspective, challenges for primary care and research innovations.

Importantly, decisions made at the 2008 Melanoma Summit will have an ongoing beneficial impact. The outcome of the Summit was the formation of a network for all professionals involved in the battle against melanoma – ‘MELNET’. MELNET is committed to an integrated consumer-centred approach involving health promoters, health professionals, researchers and policy makers.