Cancer In Public Health

In the field of public health there are many different behaviors or diseases that are a concern. One of these diseases is cancer. When talking about cancer there are many consequences. Many people are affected by cancer; whether directly or indirectly. This disease does not affect just one specific population. Not only does this disease have consequences, it also has a huge economic impact. Since cancer is a disease that is really common there has been so much research done to find a cure. There are programs and studies out there that are being used to help reduce the number of cancer cases. Cancer is a term used to refer to a group of diseases that are related and in which there is abnormal cell division and can possibly metastasize (CDC, …show more content…
This disease affects all genders and all ages. Back in 2011, the most recent year that numbers were reported, black men and white women had the highest rates of cancer. Also in 2011 black men and black women were more likely to die from cancer than any other group of people (CDC, 2014). There is a lot of information on the incidence and prevalence of cancer. The incidence of breast cancer is 122 per 100,000 people. The incidence of prostate cancer is 128.3 per 100,000 people. The lung cancer incidence for men is 73 per 100,000 people while the incidence for women is 52 per 100,000 people. The colorectal incidence for men is 46.1 per 100,000, and the incidence for women is 34.9 per 100,000 people (CDC, 2014). The prevalence rates are extremely high. The prevalence rate of men having any kind of cancer was 6,464,529 in 2012. The prevalence rate of women having any kind of cancer was 7,311,722 back in 2012 (“Complete,” …show more content…
One of these programs, which was established in 1991, is the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. This program was developed to provide cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services to low-income and uninsured or underinsured women. Another program, established in 1998, is the National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program. These programs work within communities to help promote healthy lifestyles, recommend cancer screening, and educate people about cancer symptoms. In 2011 the “Third Time’s the Charm” Campaign was started. The purpose of this campaign was to emphasis the importance of getting all three doses of the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer (Stewart et al., 2013). There was a study done to find out whether selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) reduced the risk of women getting breast cancer or having a recurrence of breast cancer. The results of this study showed that these SERMs did in fact reduce the risk of getting breast cancer (Vogel,