Cancer prevention — reducing the risk of cancer before it develops — is significantly more cost-effective than treatment. New Zealand invests in smoking cessation, sun safety, HPV vaccination, obesity reduction, alcohol harm reduction, and cancer screening. This guide covers the key funding sources.
Cancer Society NZ is the primary cancer prevention charity:
- SunSmart: Sun safety education for schools, sport, and community
- Quit smoking: Smoking cessation support
- Research: Cancer prevention research funding
- Education: Cancer risk reduction for communities
HPA funds health promotion including cancer prevention:
- Alcohol harm reduction: Reducing alcohol-related cancer risk
- Healthy lifestyle: Physical activity and healthy eating
- Sun safety: UV awareness
- Tobacco: Smokefree NZ
Health system prevention:
- Quitline NZ: Free smoking cessation support
- BreastScreen NZ: Breast cancer screening
- National Bowel Screening Programme: Colorectal cancer screening
- Cervical screening: HPV testing and screening
- HPV vaccination: School-age vaccination programme
Healthy Families NZ funds community prevention:
- Healthy environments in schools, workplaces, and communities
- Obesity prevention — a major cancer risk factor
- Physical activity and healthy food access
Gaming trusts fund cancer prevention:
- Four Winds Foundation: Community health prevention
- Grassroots Trust: Community health
- Pub Charity: Community health awareness events
- Lion Foundation: Community health
Gaming trust cancer prevention applications:
- SunSmart resources for sport clubs
- Smoking cessation resources
- Cancer awareness events and screening promotion
- Healthy lifestyle programmes
Smokefree Aotearoa 2025:
- Quitline NZ: Free counselling and support
- Pharmac-funded NRT: Patches, gum, and varenicline
- Māori and Pacific cessation: Culturally appropriate stop-smoking support
- Workplace: Stop-smoking support in workplaces
Obesity as cancer risk factor:
- Healthy Families NZ: Community obesity prevention
- MSD nutrition: Food access and affordability
- Sport NZ: Physical activity as cancer prevention
- DHBs: Bariatric surgery for severe obesity — cancer prevention
Melanoma prevention through sun safety:
- Cancer Society SunSmart: School and community sun safety
- SunSmart for sport: Outdoor sport sun safety
- Councils: Shade structures in public spaces
Alcohol as cancer risk factor:
- Health Promotion Agency: Alcohol harm reduction
- Mental Health Foundation: Alcohol wellbeing
- Low and no alcohol: Trend supporting cancer prevention
Strong applications demonstrate:
- Behaviour change: Measurable reduction in cancer risk behaviours (smoking, sun exposure)
- Screening uptake: Participation in BreastScreen, bowel screening, cervical screening
- Vaccination: HPV vaccination rates
- Equity: Māori and Pacific communities with highest burden
- Schools: Young people receiving prevention messages
- Community reach: Population reached through prevention programmes
- Evidence: Evidence-based prevention approaches
- Cost-effectiveness: Cost per cancer prevented or per behaviour change
Tahua's grants management platform helps cancer prevention organisations manage grant applications across Cancer Society NZ, HPA, Te Whatu Ora, gaming trusts, and community funders, tracking screening, smoking cessation, and cancer risk reduction outcomes.