The American Cancer Society and MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper united with elected officials and South Jersey community leaders in the fight against colorectal cancer and screening efforts as leaders signed a pledge for a national “80% x 2018” colorectal cancer screening campaign.
With a swipe of a pen, South Jersey community leaders made history on March 6, 2017, as they announced their commitment to implement changes within their individual organizations that will increase colorectal cancer screening in Camden and surrounding areas.
According to the American Cancer Society, more than 135,000 people will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer in the United States this year, and over 50,000 will die from the disease. In fact, colorectal cancer is the nation’s third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths for both men and women and second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths when both sexes are combined, accounting for about 8 percent of all cancer deaths. In New Jersey, more than 4,000 people will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year, and over 1,420 will die from the disease.
Today’s announcement celebrates the South Jersey health community’s commitment to achieve 80 percent by 2018; a shared goal led by the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (NCCRT). The Roundtable was started by the American Cancer Society and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1997. The NCCRT launched the 80% by 2018 campaign in 2014, and today more than 1,300 organizations across the country have pledged to support this public health goal.
For more information about colorectal cancer screening, please visit www.cancer.org/colon or contact the American Cancer Society at 1.800.227.2345. For more information about the 80% by 2018 initiative, visit www.nccrt.org.
For the news coverage articles, please click on these links:
MD Anderson Cooper hosts event promoting colorectal cancer screening
6 ABC
Elected officials, community leaders join MD Anderson Cooper, ACS in screening pledge
CBS 3
A Camden Medical Center will Commit to the 80% By 2018 Campaign
SNJ Today
More than 20 organizations come together to fight colon cancer in Camden
One News Page