AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

PUBLIC HEALTH (INFECTIOUS AND NOTIFIABLE DISEASES) REGULATIONS

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

No. 3 of 1961

	The effect of this amendment is to make leukaemia, a non-infectious blood disease, a notifable disease in the A.C.T.

	The Committee on Epidemiology and Infectious Disease recommended to the National Health and Medical Research Council that all types of leukaemia should be made notifiable in every State.

	Statistics indicate that there has been a considerable increase in the incidence of the disease over the last 25 years.  No definite cause of leukaemia is known although the risk of developing it is increased by excessive exposure to radiation.

	The main purposes of making leukaemia a notifiable disease are to enable more information to be obtained as regards the causes, to increase the accuracy of diagnosis, and to provide material for those engaged in the search for a cure.

	A special report form is being used in Victoria from which it is hoped to gain much valuable information about the disease.