Low-income people in the U.S. will have new opportunities for colon screening, thanks to $22 million in awards from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The awards, granted to 26 states and tribal organizations, will provide colorectal cancer screening services for uninsured or underinsured people ages 50 to 64 years. Individual awards range in size from $358,000 to $1.1 million, and services are set to begin within six months, according to the Atlanta-based CDC.
U.S. states receiving five-year awards are Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington. Tribal organizations include the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Arctic Slope Native Association, South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency, and Southcentral Foundation, the CDC said in a statement.
The funding will support screening and diagnostic follow-up care, data collection and tracking, public education and outreach, provider education, and an evaluation to measure clinical outcomes, costs, and effectiveness of the program.
Awardees may provide any of the recommended screening exams, including colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, or stool testing, but not virtual colonoscopy (also known as CT colonography or CTC), the CDC told AuntMinnie.com.
"Colorectal cancer kills more people than any other cancer except lung cancer," CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden said in a statement. "These colorectal cancer screening awards will save lives. We need to reach more adults aged 50 and over and others at high risk to prevent colorectal cancer."
More information can be found at the CDC's "Screen for Life" Web site.
Related Reading
Insurance coverage and doctor visits boost colon screening rates, September 8, 2009
Most choose VC over colonoscopy, study shows, August 27, 2009
VC is cost-effective for screening; tiny polyps can be ignored, July 15, 2009
CT colonography and Medicare: Are we the enemy? June 24, 2009
Colonoscopy seen reducing CRC mortality in Germany, March 23, 2009
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