Colorado tobacco taxes fund colon
cancer detection program
The Colorado Colorectal Screening Program recently received a $3
million grant to provide colon cancer screenings for uninsured legal residents
of Colorado. The funding comes from tax increases on tobacco products.
The Colorado Colorectal Screening Program is managed by the University
of Colorado Cancer Center at the University of Colorado Denver, but it is based in more than 65 community health clinics
across Colorado. It began in January 2006, in community clinics in northeastern
Colorado, at Denver Health and in Pueblo. The program already has screened
more than 600 patients, found five cancers, and prevented an estimated 12
cancers by the removal of large polyps.
Tim Byers, MD, MPH, is the UCCC deputy director and director of the
Colorado Colorectal Screening Program. “We are thrilled to be making
such a significant impact with this program. This new grant will allow us
to reach out to more patients, and substantially reduce the suffering from
colorectal cancer across Colorado,” he said.
The program will be expanded beginning Nov. 1 to serve uninsured
patients in all community clinics across Colorado whose incomes are below
250 percent of the federal poverty level. Those who do not have health insurance
suffer the highest mortality rates from colon cancer. By targeting this population
for screening, the program aims to detect and even prevent cancer in these
high-risk individuals.
The Colorado Colorectal Screening Program screens patients by sigmoidoscopy
or colonoscopy. The program’s goal is to detect colorectal cancers early,
when they are more curable, and to prevent them altogether by removing
colorectal polyps.
The program seeks to screen more than 12,500 Coloradans by 2010,
contributing substantially to the state’s overall goal of screening
75 percent of the uninsured population by that year. It is accompanied
by an awareness campaign to encourage all Coloradans to get colorectal screening
exams.
Colon cancer is the second most deadly form of cancer in the United
States. The disease kills an estimated 620 Coloradans a year. However, with
early detection and treatment up to 80 percent of these deaths are preventable.
The grant awarded to the Colorado Colorectal Screening Program is
a part of a larger distribution of the tax revenue collected from
tobacco products. Also awarded were grants to The Children’s Hospital,
Denver Health, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, and the
San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center.
