Posted on: Friday, October 22, 2004
Plan for cancer control unveiled
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer
When Ann Jones was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, information about her illness was hard to come by.
Jones was anything but alone yesterday as she joined hundreds of other cancer survivors, caregivers and health professionals in announcing the first Hawai'i Comprehensive Cancer Control plan.
The plan is designed to coordinate dozens of separate cancer-fighting efforts under way in more than 75 medical centers, research facilities, government offices and private organizations statewide, Gov. Linda Lingle said.
It includes dozens of recommendations to help residents through improved screening, detection and treatment of all forms of cancer, Lingle said.
Mostly, though, it will help patients and professionals find and receive the appropriate information to prevent or treat illnesses.
"There's been a tremendous growth in the available information since I was diagnosed," said Jones, an American Cancer Society volunteer who helped draft the plan, released yesterday.
1.3 million people are diagnosed annually in the United States.
5,000 people are diagnosed annually in Hawai'i.
1,700 cancer patients die each year in Hawai'i.
Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in Hawai'i.
60 percent of all cancers could be prevented.
Lung, colorectal, breast and prostate are the most common types of cancer.
Native Hawaiians, Caucasians and Filipinos have the highest death rates from cancer in Hawai'i.
Source: State Department of Health
Information
For more information about the Hawai'i Cancer Plan, call the Department of Health Cancer Prevention and Control Section at 692-7480. The new plan also will help Hawai'i's many professional health organizations fill in gaps and avoid duplications of their services, said Dr. Linda Rosen, deputy director of the state Health Department.
Lingle said that one of the state's roles in implementing the plan will be to ensure that all Hawai'i residents have equal access to cancer screening and treatment, regardless of their income.
"We don't want anybody falling through the gaps," said Lingle, who had her own cancer scare in 2002 when a routine mammogram indicated an abnormality. Tests later proved negative for cancer.
Work on the plan began with a federal grant four years ago. The coalition that put the plan together said it will work to ensure that all of the recommendations are put into place in the next few years.
"It takes a village to cure cancer," said Chris Pablo, director of government and community affairs for Kaiser Permanente and himself a cancer survivor. "Now we're going to start on a new journey to make this plan a reality so someday there will be no more cancer."
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
"Anything I found out, I got on my own," Jones said.
"We didn't know where we were going in the very beginning, but the overall thing we came up with was a body of recommendations and actions to help someone with cancer every step along the way," she said.
Cancer facts
