Lifting the Cancer Burden

American Cancer Society
Thursday, 18 April 2002

The American Cancer Society Marks National Minority Cancer Awareness Week, April 21-27, 2002

Put simply: The burden of cancer on some segments of the U.S. population is heavier than on others. Many Americans are diagnosed with cancer when it's too late to stop it - and many even die - because they lack access to or ability to pay for the screening and treatment most people take for granted. Some groups within our country are less likely to get lifesaving early detection tests, such as mammograms, Pap tests, and colon cancer screening tests. And several populations encounter barriers to access, information, and support options.

The American Cancer Society, the nation's leading voluntary health organization, is taking a variety of innovative steps to help overcome these disparities. The Society will bring attention to this issue when it recognizes the 16th annual National Minority Cancer Awareness Week – April 21-27, 2002 – along with health care providers, community organizations, and state and local agencies throughout the country.

"As the demographic face of America changes, it only magnifies the importance of addressing these disparities within the various special population groups," said Harold P. Freeman, MD, director of surgery at North General Hospital in New York City; head of the National Cancer Institute's Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities; chairman of the President's Cancer Panel; current volunteer and past national president for the American Cancer Society. "Despite significant progress in the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer, today's health advances have not benefited all Americans equally."

"We can do something about this situation, and we are by working more closely with underserved communities to understand the barriers that contribute to health disparities, identifying the best community assets to tackle the problem, and mobilizing them in creative strategies to eliminate these disparities," said Freeman.

By building strong relationships with underserved communities, the American Cancer Society is actively trying to understand and eliminate the issues contributing to the unequal burden of cancer faced by medically underserved groups. Some of these efforts include:

- Co-sponsoring, along with the Intercultural Cancer Council (ICC), a congressional briefing to discuss the President's Cancer Panel Report.

- Establishing the American Cancer Society Hispanic Development Center in Miami, FL, to reach out to areas across the country with high Hispanic/Latino populations. One successful program is an advertising campaign called "Mi Vida," or "My Life," that encourages early detection of breast, cervical, and colon cancer.

- Supporting Phi Beta Sigma fraternity's Sigmas Waging War Against Cancer (SWWAC), a program focusing on awareness, early detection, and prevention of prostate and colorectal cancer among African American men.

- Ensuring Native American women have access to lifesaving cancer treatment by advocating for the passage of the Native American Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Amendment Act in 2002.

- Collaborating with The 100 Black Men of America, Inc. to develop a prostate health program for African American men called Let's Talk About ItSM.

- Launching Increasing Outreach and Decreasing Disparities in African Americans (IODA), a three-year pilot project that involves working with and learning from people in four sites -rural and urban- to increase the early detection of breast and colon cancer.

- Encouraging Chickasaw tribal women in Oklahoma to contact family and friends reminding them to get a mammogram as part of Circle of LifeSM, the Society's breast health program for Native Americans.

- Sponsoring the first ever National Hispanic/Latino Tobacco Prevention & Control Conference.

- Collaborating with Phi Beta Sigma fraternity and The 100 Black Men of America, Inc. during last year's Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Conference to sponsor a panel on cancer disparities.

- Tailoring the Tell A Friend® program for Samoan women and supporting a Filipino Breast Cancer Awareness program as part of The Society's outreach to Asian Pacific Islanders.

Other American Cancer Society efforts include research studies into cancer issues in poor and underserved communities; education and support services through community outreach programs; multilingual information in print, Internet, and phone resources; and legislative advocacy for better insurance coverage of cancer screening and treatment.

The American Cancer Society is the nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service.

For more information, or to contact American Cancer Society, see their website at: www.cancer.org