University of California-Davis Launches Cancer Awareness Program Aimed at Asian-Americans
In response to the increasing cancer mortality rate among Asian-Americans, the University of California-Davis is launching a program designed to raise awareness about health risks specific to the Asian-American community, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Called the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training, the five-year, $7.6 million project has a "mission of dispelling the myth that Asians do not get cancer." As part of the National Cancer Institute-funded program, conferences will be held to address health problems specific to certain Asian ethnicities, including rates of lung and liver cancer among the Chinese and Vietnamese population and breast cancer rates among Filipinas. Doctors attending the conferences will receive "tools and a checklist" to use when treating Asian-American patients, the Mercury News reports. The project also will link the UC-Davis Cancer Center with six other cancer centers and will conduct outreach specific to Asian-American communities. Several factors may contribute to the spike in cancer rates among Asian-Americans, including a dearth of research into ethnic health issues, cultural biases and a lack of awareness among Asian-Americans that they are at risk, the Mercury News reports (Liu, San Jose Mercury News, 10/22).
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