Gov. Ruth Ann Minner Releases Landmark Comprehensive Report on Cancer In Delaware
Christiana – Gov. Ruth Ann Minner on Thursday released a landmark report from the Delaware Advisory Council on Cancer Incidence and Mortality, containing specific recommendations for improving cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment for years to come.
The 14-member council was created last year and members were named by the Governor and the General Assembly. The council was chaired by Bill Bowser, whose son Michael, now 15, had completed three-and-a-half years of chemotherapy for leukemia by the age of 13. Currently, Delaware’s cancer mortality rate is 3rd in the nation and higher than the national average (191.9 per 100,000 versus the U.S. rate of 168.3). In 1999, 1,648 Delawareans succumbed to cancer.
“Cancer is an issue that has affected my family and friends. It is something that I feel very strongly about, both personally and as Delaware’s Governor,” Gov. Minner said. “We may not – and probably will not – see the results of this work during my time as Governor. But I am determined to leave office knowing that I have done everything in my power to fight this disease. This report is a good road map toward that goal.”
Titled “Turning Commitment Into Action,” the report includes 26 recommendations and over 130 specific tasks related to those recommendations for fighting cancer in Delaware over the next decade and beyond.
Gov. Minner praised the thoroughness of the council’s work and said that while the full report will take some time to digest, she would immediately accept some of the recommendations. Gov. Minner said she would:
§ Support raising the state cigarette tax to reduce smoking;
§ Propose legislation to require the collection of data that will better track the cause of cancer in Delaware; and
§ Ask private cancer care centers in Delaware to perform a retrospective study of current and past cancer victims to gather more detailed information that might help the state learn about environmental carcinogens.
The report recommendations are grouped into the following categories:
§ Increase screening for and early detection of colorectal cancer;
§ Provide the highest quality of care for every Delawareans with cancer;
§ Pay for cancer treatment for the uninsured;
§ Provide reliable and useable cancer information;
§ Reduce the threat of cancer from the environment;
§ Increase our knowledge about cancer including environmental causes;
§ Reduce tobacco use and exposure; and
§ Eliminate the unequal cancer burden affecting minorities and the poor.
Bowser, the commission chair, said, “The recommendations of the council will be a powerful force for change. We know what needs to be done, who should do it and where we go from here. Delaware has the opportunity to take action and make positive changes in the lives of all its citizens.”
The full text of the report is available online at www.state.de.us/governor/publications/Cancer_report.pdf
