The cost to Aussie blokes

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) reports that in 2023–24, non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) - mainly basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma — cost Australia's health system about $1.9 billion. Melanoma added another $596 million, bringing skin cancer health system expenditure to roughly $2.5 billion a year.

There isn't a single current official figure that isolates the total dollar cost specifically attributable to Australian men. However, men carry a disproportionately large share of the burden:

• Men accounted for 694,020 paid Medicare NMSC treatment services in 2022, compared with 413,817 for women.
• AIHW's latest analysis found that men have higher rates of common NMSC surgical removal than women.
• In 2021, 66% of Australians who died from skin cancer were men.
• In the 2011–2021 period, the estimated death rate from common NMSC was about 3 deaths per 100,000 men, compared with about 1 per 100,000 women.

And there's another cost - the cost to the bloke himself

The $2.5 billion figure is health system expenditure. It doesn't capture everything a man and his family can experience, such as:

Lost work and income

• Time away from work for GP and specialist appointments
• Surgery and recovery
• Multiple procedures for recurring skin cancers
• Reduced ability to work outdoors

Physical impacts

• Scarring and surgical wounds
• Repeated excisions
• More serious treatment when cancers are detected late
• Potentially life threatening melanoma

Family impacts

• Time away from partners and kids
• Caring responsibilities
• Financial pressure
• The emotional impact of a cancer diagnosis

And the scale is enormous: AIHW estimates that around 500,000 Australians each year have at least one common NMSC surgically removed, with rates higher among men.