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CDC: Funding covers cancer screenings for the uninsured

Updated: 2009-09-11 14:15:24 CST Category: Cancer Detection and Tumor Markers

by Brendan Missett

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is taking steps to ensure that those most susceptible to colorectal cancer are granted access to lab tests used to detect the sickness.

The CDC awarded a total of $22 million to 22 states and 4 tribal organizations to guarantee colorectal cancer screening services for uninsured or underinsured men and women between the ages of 50 and 64. The recipients of the award, which ranged in value from $358,283 to $1.1 million, expect to begin screening patients within six months.

Dr Thomas Frieden, CDC director, commented, "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." Other CDC representatives explained that the screening tests are intended to detect the cancer at an early stage, when treatments are most successful.

The awards granted by the CDC will cover screening, diagnostic follow-up care, data collection, public education and outreach, provider education and an evaluation which measures the costs and effectiveness of the program.

The CDC estimates that the number of new colorectal cancer cases could be reduced by about 90 percent if all cases were identified through screening procedures. Further research by the American Cancer Society estimates that in 2009 a total of 106,100 new cases of colon cancer and 40,870 new cases of rectal cancer will have been diagnosed.

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