Free skin cancer checks at the Ekka a lifeline for Australian farmers

This year a team of volunteer doctors performed skin checks on 85 people during Beef Week 2023 at the Ekka, with a total of four melanomas picked-up over two days.

Dr. Usher said access in her area to skin health check services was difficult, and an appointment with a specialist would usually take between 12 and 18 months.

Dr. Usher, who works in health research at New England said she was concerned about a lesion on her chin that she had been treating with a cream prescribed by a GP but hadn't been able to get in with a specialist to have it properly assessed.

"He suggested the lesion on my chin needs to be seen urgently by the doctor again because the cream hasn't worked," she said after seeing volunteer Brisbane-based doctor Toby Ford who was conducting checks during stud cattle judging on Saturday, August 12.

She said although it might still be challenging to get into a specialist in her area, she was grateful to be able to relay the urgent information to her GP.

"I might have waited a bit longer, but I won't now - I'll ring him today," she said.

Dr. Ford was volunteering on the day through his involvement with the Farmers Health Promotion Collaborative.

"One of the things about the rural sector is that many of them have been exposed to the sun as they're grown up over the years and therefore there's a great concern they've developed lesions that we haven't seen or inspected until - it can be too late," Dr. Ford said.

"One of the joys coming to the exhibition this year is our ability to perhaps start to elevate that awareness that people should take greater care of their skin in this harsh environment."

He said the organisation has been working with Meat & Livestock Australia to find and promote "well-being influencers" in the bush to be role models and encourage others to take greater care of their health.

The free skin check initiative actually began in the Ekka woodchop arena in 2018 when council steward Dr. Rupert Templeman picked up a melanoma on ring announcer Neil Stewart's hand.

Each Ekka since then, a tent has been organised by fellow woodchop and dairy council steward John Cotter along with Mr and Mrs Templeman, who are both doctors.

Dr. Kim Usher's granddaughter 14-year-old Caitlin Usher also decided to get a skin check from Dr. Ford.

Caitlin is in year 9 and lives in Ipswich, but often visits her grandmother's property in NSW.

Dr. Usher said her granddaughter's check went well and it was able to relieve of some anxieties Caitlin had about her skin.

Dr. Ford said it was important for young people to get checked because melanomas could been found in people of any age, especially those with a predisposition to fair skin with freckles that were unusual in shape and size.

"Having a skin check from an early age is a good idea because prevention is always better than a cure," he said.