Cancer remains a major public health concern in the United States as well as globally. The disease is the second leading cause of death in America even though many types of cancer can be prevented or treated efficiently if caught early. Almost 5,000 cancer cases are diagnosed each day, which amounts to almost 2 million new cases a year in the U.S. alone (Siegel et al., 2020). Researchers evaluate that by the end of 2020, the cost of cancer care is going to rise to $174 billion. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (2020) reports that “each year in the United States, more than 1.6 million people are diagnosed with cancer, and nearly 600,000 die from it” (para. 1). There are various factors contributing to the incidence and high mortality rates related to cancer. They include preventable risk factors such as smoking (and secondhand smoke exposure), getting too much UV exposure from tanning beds and the sun directly, obesity, and substance abuse.
All of the aforementioned factors increase the likelihood of getting cancer, which is why it is important to discuss them in more detail. Scientists inform that “smoking and secondhand smoke cause about 90% of lung cancer deaths in the United States,” while the government creates health promotion initiatives in order to raise awareness about the effects of tobacco (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention, 2020, para. 2). Since skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States, it is crucial to inform the public about the impact of overexposure to UV radiation from the sun and tanning beds. Another risk factor worth mentioning is obesity “associated with at least 13 types of cancer, including endometrial (uterine) cancer, breast cancer in postmenopausal women, and colorectal cancer,” which make up 40% of all cancer cases (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention, 2020, para. 8). Medical professionals need to encourage the general population to make healthier choices and give advice regarding most common cancer risk factors in order to minimize the number of those affected by the illness.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary organization that allocates resources in an effort to eliminate cancer. The ACS specializes in research, healthy lifestyle promotion, lobbying, as well as providing mental support to cancer patients and their families. According to the organization’s website, it has over 1.5 million volunteers, which helps ACS make a difference in fighting cancer, encouraging prevention, and advancing health equity (American Cancer Society, n.d.). The ACS has a multi-million program of grants, which funds groundbreaking research across all aspects of cancer. The organization also functions as a representative for those suffering from cancer disparities due to racism, classism, ableism, etc. However, the Cancer Society’s most prominent role is that of the main information source about cancer prevention and treatment; all the statistics, data, and expert opinions go through thorough credibility and fact checks before being published online.
As for the services the ACS provides, there are numerous great projects initiated by the organization. The one, which is the most accessible, is the website at: cancer.org, which includes a variety of informational articles, videos, graphs, and statistics. I would highly recommend everyone to visit the website and read more about cancer prevention and risk factors. Cancer.org serves as one of the most impactful services playing a key role in cancer public education, which is why I think it is really important. The next service worth mentioning is the organization’s Cancer Information Center 1-800-ACS-2345, which takes into account the needs of people diagnosed with cancer, their caregivers, as well as cancer survivors, and provides these individuals with the emotional support. In addition, this service refers people to their community’s resources and support groups. Personally, I think that the fact the National Cancer Information Center has bi-lingual specialists is extremely important as well.
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