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Nevada Minority Health and Equity Coalition

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is a proud and active member of the Nevada Minority Health and Equity Coalition.  

Reducing and eliminating health disparities is fundamental to reaching health equity and building a healthier Nevada. “Health equity is the ethical and human rights principle that motivates us to eliminate health disparities.” (Robert Wood Johnson, 2017)  For the American Cancer Society (ACS) and American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), health equity means everyone has a fair and just opportunity to prevent, find, treat, and survive cancer. It is not the same as equality. Equality is providing everyone with the same tools and resources. Equity is providing tools and resources based on needs that allow everyone the opportunity to be as healthy as possible.

What is ACS CAN doing to advance health equity?

To help address health equity, ACS CAN is an active member of the Nevada Minority Health and Equity Coalition. We are working to advance health equity through a multifaceted approach that includes:

➢ Strengthening our organizational commitment and capacity so we can work together to advance health equity and address social determinants of health that create cancer-related health disparities and other chronic disease disparities  
➢ Engaging multiple sectors and collaborators so we can work together to identify and develop solutions that improve public health programs and policies at the state and local levels
➢ Establishing and nurturing mutually beneficial relationships with communities so we can explore, identify, and implement community-driven solutions to address the social determinants of health and build healthy, thriving communities
➢ Sharing our lessons along the way so other organizations that are also on their health equity journey can learn from our successes and challenges