Marching on in the fight against melanoma

After a brief hiatus, the Melanoma March is due to make a comeback in Townsville and Townsville University Hospital’s dermatology team have put their best foot forward to lead the charge.

With no local march in Townsville in 2024, and having seen firsthand the impact of melanoma, particularly on young people, principal house officer dermatology Dr Maddy Kelly said she was inspired to give the event a new life.

“In dermatology, I am exposed to many young patients being surprised that they are diagnosed with melanoma,” Dr Kelly said.

“It really highlighted to me that a lot of north Queenslanders have no idea how severe this disease is and how prevalent it is in the young population.

“I got myself involved with a few different community events and found the Melanoma Institute of Australia and discovered there hadn’t been a march in Townsville for a while.”

According to the Melanoma Institute of Australia, melanoma is the most common cancer affecting Australians aged 20 to 39 and every 30 minutes, one Aussie is told they have melanoma.

Dr Kelly said she hoped the march would help generate a sense of community for those who have had or were going through treatment for melanoma.

“We were finding a lot of our patients in the clinics were talking about how disconnected they felt and how they didn’t know many people who were going through the same thing,” she said.

“That was kind of the driver to bring the march back.

“First and foremost, I want people to know the march is happening again in Townsville and hope it’ll become a pillar for the community and continue for many years to come.

“It would be great to see lots of people march and those who feel disconnected, bring them together to meet other people with similar stories to them.”

The Townsville Melanoma March is happening Saturday 22 March, beginning at the parkland at Tobruk Swimming Pool on the Strand.

You can register and donate here: Melanoma March 2025 - Townsville | Home