Acceso Hispano (an U.S.-based initiative of the Self Reliance Foundation) will soon be launching “El Cancer Nos Afecta a Todos” (Cancer Affects All of Us)– a national Spanish-language communications campaign financed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  The campaign will reach Spanish-speaking Latinos through both mass media channels and grassroots outreach activities, and strengthen links between community-based service providers and Latino communities. Ultimately the campaign’s objective is to increase breast and colorectal cancer screening among Latinos and thereby decrease cancer mortality rates.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death among Latinos, but many of the cases could easily be prevented through routine screening and other preventive services.

In preparation for the campaign we are actively seeking to expand partnerships with community health service providers and cancer screening centers.  The campaign’s print, radio, Internet and text messages will build awareness of the importance of cancer screening, and encourage the public to contact our Linea de Ayuda (helpline) by phone or by email to find the location of their local cancer screening centers that provide bilingual or Latino-friendly services. In order to better serve the Latino community, Acceso Hispano is therefore building our database of relevant community health and cancer-related service providers.

If you or your organization provides health care services to Latinos or cancer-related services to the general public, please contact us! We can refer new clients to you, or help you identify the appropriate providers in your region so that you can refer your clients to cancer screening services. We will also be providing educational materials in Spanish related to various cancers and the importance of prevention that you can share with your community.

Why Focus on Cancer?
According to the research conducted by the American Cancer Society and the Intercultural Cancer Council, cancer is the second leading cause of death among Hispanic adults after heart disease. Hispanic women have two to three times the cervical cancer rates of non-Hispanic white women. Hispanic men and women have between 30-90% higher rates of stomach cancer than non-Hispanic populations. Lung cancer and breast cancer are the deadliest cancers among Hispanic men and Hispanic women, respectively.

Despite these alarming statistics, only 38% of Hispanic women age 40 and older regularly receive mammograms, and Hispanic women are less likely to receive regular pap smears than non-Hispanic white women. Deaths from breast and cervical cancers could easily be avoided if cancer screening rates increased among women at risk. Unfortunately, rates of preventive cancer screenings are proportionally linked to insurance coverage- the less insured an ethnic group is, the less likely they are to be screened. Latinos are the most likely of any ethnic in the United States to be under-insured due to a disproportionate lack of job-related insurance.

Furthermore, due to a lack of preventative screenings, Latinos have a disproportionately difficult time with cancer. According to the Volume 4 edition of the NCI Cancer Bulletin published in April 17, 2007, Hispanic women have significantly different experiences with breast cancer than non-Hispanic women do. The Hispanic women studied were diagnosed at a younger age; at a later stage of disease; with larger, higher grade tumors; and with less treatable estrogen- and progesterone-negative tumors, according to resports by Dr. A. Tyler Watlington and colleagues at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

Click here to download a brochure about the “El Cancer Nos Afecta a Todos” campaign.

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