NSW boosts cancer funding

It will allocate $3.5 million to creating an additional 25 metropolitan and rural cancer specialist teams.

Another $1.5 million will go towards a new radiation oncology research and teaching network to encourage more medical students to take up careers in cancer care.

The Government says the funding addresses a shortage of cancer specialists across the state.

The Minister for Science, Medical Research and Cancer, Verity Firth, says governments must do more in the fight against cancer.

"We know that cancer is a disease that will affect the health of one-in-two men and one-in-three women during their lifetime," she said.

"So to mark Daffodil Day, we're encouraging the public obviously to donate generously to the Cancer Council but the Government is also wanting to put its money where its mouth is."

Ms Firth says it is vital that efforts are made to attract students to specialist cancer treatment and research.

"This is about encouraging our brightest and best students to enter cancer research and to help find a cure for this disease, which remains the single biggest cause of premature death in New South Wales," she said.

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