National Cancer Registry Program Is Launched

HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced $14 million in awards to 37 state health departments to establish a national program of cancer registries.

The funds will enable states to create or enhance existing statewide registries and to produce cancer incidence reports to improve prevention and control activities. Administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this will be the largest program of its kind in the United States.

"The goal of this program is to reduce cancer mortality as part of a national disease prevention strategy," Secretary Shalala said. "We know that the burden of cancer for Americans varies widely by geographic location and by ethnicity. A national system of cancer registries can help us understand the disease better and use our resources to the best effect in prevention and treatment."

Statewide cancer incidence and cancer mortality data can be used to identify trends, patterns, and variation for directing cancer control efforts and is particularly useful in designing programs to reach medically underserved populations, Shalala said.

The national system was authorized under the Cancer Registries Act. The enabling legislation was sponsored by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy and Rep. Bernie Sanders, both of Vermont.

Twenty-eight states will receive funds to enhance existing cancer-registries: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota' Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Nine states will establish registries; Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina and Vermont.

More than 8 million Americans alive today have a history of cancer. In 1994, about 1,208,000 new cancer cases will be diagnosed, and about 538,000 will die -- more than 1,400 people each day. One out of every five deaths in the United States is from cancer.

THE NATIONAL PROGRAM OF CANCER REGISTRIES