Your risk of developing cancer shouldn’t depend on the town or city that you call home.
However, research shows that your zip code is a better indicator of how healthy you are and your likelihood of developing certain types of cancer than your genetic code.
State lawmakers play a huge role in creating health policy and passing new laws aimed at preventing cancer.
ACS CAN’s How Do You Measure Up? Report, now in its 16th year, grades each state on where they stand on the issues that play a critical role in preventing cancer and improving cancer patients’ access to health care.
There has been progress in most states, but the Report reveals that almost every state in the country is missing critical opportunities to enact laws that could save people’s lives.
To better prevent and treat cancer, states need to:
This year’s Report graded states on nine policy areas ranging from access to Medicaid to smoke-free workplaces. The Report found that 18 states are falling behind in almost all of the nine policy areas.
Only two states, Massachusetts and California, met most of ACS CAN’s benchmarks.
How does your state measure up?
After months of delay and hard negotiations, Congress has finally passed a funding bill! The bill includes a small increase for cancer research and prevention programs.