ONLY 3 per cent of the population still think cancer is contagious, according to the Medical Journal of Australia.

But this represents a significant improvement in public knowledge of cancer over the past four decades.

A study first conducted in Perth in 1964 showed 20 per cent of the population believed cancer to be contagious. Similarly, the proportion who believed cancer was caused by “a knock” was 25 per cent in 1964, compared with 1 per cent in 2001.

Cancer screening participation rates have also greatly improved, from 18 per cent in 1964 to 77 per cent in 2001.

The article, Changes in beliefs about cancer in Western Australia, concludes that most of the population is better informed about the causes of cancer and has greater awareness of the role of lifestyle factors in cancer development.

However, co-author of the report, Dr Owen Carter from the Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer Control in Western Australia, said there was still room for improvement. She also said the proportion of Australians dying from cancer had remained relatively static, at just over a quarter of all deaths.