Health Equity and the American Cancer Society

Cancer is a disease that affects everyone, but it doesn’t affect everyone equally. For the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACSCAN), health equity means everyone has a fair and just opportunity to prevent, find, treat, and survive cancer. We believe no one should be disadvantaged in their fight against cancer because of how much money they make, the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, their gender identity, their disability status, or where they live. Health equity is not a program but rather an approach through which we seek to improve cancer-related outcomes and eliminate cancer disparities.

 

Our goal to reduce cancer deaths cannot be achieved without eliminating disparities in the cancer burden — defined in terms of socioeconomic status (income, education, insurance status, etc.), race/ethnicity, geographic location, and sexual orientation. We are providing training and other educational opportunities for volunteers and staff to deepen their health equity knowledge and skills, which can enhance the integration of health equity in our research priorities, programs, services, and advocacy.  

 

Health Equity work in the West Region:

It’s important to understand that the Society is not the expert on barriers to health equity, but we apply our expertise in examining the data, listening to stories, convening partnerships, helping to discover barriers and needs, and utilizing resources to remove those barriers in a sustainable way.

 

West Region Breast Health Equity projects funded by the NFL:

·         Los Angeles Chargers - Watts Healthcare Corporation, CA

·         Los Angeles Rams - Family Health Centers of San Diego, Inc., CA

·         Oakland Raiders - Marin Community Clinic, CA

·         San Francisco 49ers - Salud Para La Gente, CA

·         Seattle Seahawks - Community Health Care, WA

 

Breast Health Equity project funded by Pfizer:

·         University of Washington

 

The American Cancer Society currently funds 55 multi-year extramural research grants totaling $46.2 million that are focused on health equity. Nine of those grants are located within the West Region:

·         Oregon Health and Science University, Lyle Fagnan, MD - Increasing HPV Immunization Rates: The Rural Adolescent Vaccine Enterprise, $1,854,250.00

·         Kaiser Foundation Research Institute, Candyce Kroenke, ScD, MPH - Race Disparities in Social Networks, and Breast Cancer Treatment, Prognosis, $765,000.00

·         University of Washington, Christoph I. Lee, MD – Advanced Breast Imaging Adoption and Screening Access Among Vulnerable Women, $729,000.00

·         University of California, Los Angeles, Mark S. Litwin, MD, MPH - Men's Experiences Transitioning from Disease-specific to ACA Coverage, $792,000.00

·         University of California, San Diego, Jesse Nodora, DrPH - Colorectal Cancer Screening Strategies for Community Health Centers, $1,738,500.00

·         Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Sunita K. Patel, PhD - Reducing Learning and HRQOL Disparities in Latino Children with Cancer, $1,221,000.00

·         University of Southern California, Veronica W. Setiawan, PhD - Determinants of Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Pancreatic Cancer Incidence, $594,000.00

·         University of Washington, Rashmi K. Sharma, MD - Racial/Ethnic Differences in Inpatient End-of-life Communication, $722,000.00

·         Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Adriana Vidal, PhD - Race and the Obesity-Prostate Cancer Link, $792,000.00