Thousands of Australian lives could soon be saved thanks to groundbreaking new mobile health technology to detect lung cancer at an earlier stage. 

The Lung Foundation Australia, in collaboration with the federal government, has launched a $267 million program to screen for the country’s leading cause of cancer-related deaths.

“We know that with the introduction of a lung cancer screening program, we will be saving lives,” asserted Mark Brooke, CEO of the Lung Foundation Australia.

Modelling presented at the Australian Lung Cancer conference at the Adelaide Convention Centre predicts 12,000 lives will be saved in the next 10 years thanks to the program.

It involves deploying high-tech screening trucks equipped with world-first battery-powered CT scanners, advanced imaging suites and cardiac testing labs. 

The mobile clinics will travel across the country, focusing on early detection, particularly in remote regions.

“This is going to allow us to identify lung cancer cases early … detect them, treat them, rather than detecting them late when there are very little options available,” South Australian Health Minister Chris Picton said.

Five screening trucks will be deployed Australia-wide within the next 12 months, with the first one set to hit the road in November.