Reducing Health Disparities

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Cancer impacts everyone, but it doesn’t impact everyone equally. We are working to ensure everyone has a fair and just opportunity to prevent, find, treat, and survive cancer. 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.

From ensuring greater diversity among clinical trial participants to improving access to quality, affordable health care, we are asking lawmakers to reduce disparities in cancer care by advancing policies that break down existing barriers.

Black women are 40% more likely to die of breast cancer than white women overall

Latest Updates

April 24, 2024
National, New Jersey

The following is a statement from Dr. Karen E. Knudsen, CEO of the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), on the passing of U.S. Representative Donald M. Payne Jr. (D-N.J.).

March 26, 2024
Hawaii

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) volunteers from across Hawaii met with their legislators at the Hawaii State Capitol Thursday to urge them to support HB1301. If enacted, the policy would enable funding for a multiethnic cohort study by the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in the Hawaii Pacific region.

March 18, 2024

At the American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), health equity means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer. As part of our deep commitment to advancing health equity, ACS CAN launched new policy

February 22, 2024
National

A new paper released today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology finds that while incorporating pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing into cancer care can help improve patient outcomes, barriers to PGx testing, discovery, and implementation are impacting its adoption and creating disparities that impact diverse populations.

Reducing Health Disparities Resources

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) is highly effective at detecting and treating breast and cervical cancer in low-income, uninsured, and underinsured women – who may otherwise not be screened. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) urges Congress to reauthorize this critical program by passing the Screening for Communities to Receive Early and Equitable Needed Services (SCREENS) for Cancer Act.

A critical factor for eliminating disparities and ensuring health equity is the guarantee that all people have access to quality, affordable health care.

For 30 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program has decreased disparities in breast and cervical cancer deaths.