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Monday, August 05, 2019

Report: DC, Maryland make strides in cancer prevention policies

More than 1.7 million Americans will be newly diagnosed with cancer in 2019, but a report from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) shows both D.C. and Maryland are making strides to bring that number down.

The annual “How Do You Measure Up?” report, now in its 17th year, looks at eight policies state and local governments can implement to reduce cancer incidence and death, including access to care and prevention efforts.

Both Maryland and D.C. meet four of ACS CAN’s policy goals in this year’s report; Virginia meets two.

This year, Maryland passed legislation that raises the tobacco sales age to 21. Forty percent of all cancers diagnosed in the U.S. are linked to tobacco use, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than 27% of cancer deaths in Maryland are directly attributed to smoking, said Jocelyn Collins, Maryland government relations director at ACS CAN.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Eliminating tobacco from the Earth would be a better idea.

Anonymous said...

since tobacco is a proven cause of cancer and has no redeeming value, politicians or the NIH or the FDA could just outlaw it but then the politicians would loose all that tobacco lobby money.