{
  "id": 158740,
  "title": "Cost and access: The barriers stopping Aboriginal men getting prostate cancer surgery",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/05/cost-and-access-the-barriers-stopping-aboriginal-men-getting-prostate",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-05T02:20:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Medical Xpress",
    "slug": "medical-xpress",
    "url": "https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-access-barriers-aboriginal-men-prostate.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Australian research reveals significant disparities in prostate cancer treatment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men compared to non-Indigenous men. A study by The George Institute for Global Health and UNSW Sydney, involving over 59,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer in New South Wales, found that 36.6% of Aboriginal men received surgery, versus 41.5% of non-Indigenous men. Private health insurance ownership correlated with surgical care, as 55% of Aboriginal men who had surgery received it in a private hospital, while 76% of non-Indigenous men did so. Out-of-pocket costs for prostate surgery in NSW are the highest in the country, averaging around $9,200 per patient. Limited public surgical outpatient clinics in NSW may push many patients toward private care, where they can afford treatment. Lead researcher Associate Professor Mei Ling Yap emphasized that insurance and cost should not dictate treatment options. Co-author Dr. Julieann Coombes called for publicly funded surgical services, particularly in regional and remote areas, to ensure equitable access to care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men. Despite the treatment disparities, the study found no significant difference in five-year survival rates between the two groups.",
  "summary": "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men diagnosed with prostate cancer are less likely to receive surgery than other Australian men and more likely to face financial barriers to treatment, according to the largest Australian study of its kind.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}