There were tears and a flood of emotions at the Epidemic Response Committee this morning, as members of the public shared their heartbreaking stories of suffering during lockdown.

Cancer Society medical director Chris Jackson told the committee that the level 4 lockdown has resulted in a 30 per cent reduction in cancer diagnoses.

"The health system must now catch up… or lives will be lost."

But Jackson said if the post-lockdown health response is done right, diagnoses can "catch up" and there would be a lot fewer fatalities.

He said a three-month delay in screening would result in 400 lives being lost.
"We owe it to them to make sure we make those diagnoses."

He said more funding was needed for the health sector to prevent this from happening.
"If we don't do… these scans, lives will be lost."

Jackson said one option would be to run a "super clinic" whereby a lot of people are tested at once.

But he warned against that, as many cancer diagnoses were quite complex.

Without more additional capacity, and more funding, Jackson said DHBs would have to prioritise different types of cancer screening.

That is not ideal, he said, as it would mean some people would miss out.

He also called on the private sector to step up after the lockdown to help with the influx of cancer screenings.

But by and large, Jackson said the lockdown has kept people with cancer safe.

However, he said there have been some issues, such as some people in hospital not being able to have support people present.

Pharmac has abandoned plans to fund a lung cancer drug, due to global supply issues, Jackson said.