Written by By Tiana Hutjens, for CNN
The National African American Health Partnership launched a cancer screening program specifically tailored to the needs of black Americans, and the results are starting to show.
The program created more than 4,600 clinical and case management sessions, according to the Partnership. And while CDC statistics show that black Americans are 25% more likely to die from cancer than white Americans, about 80% of those deaths could have been prevented, the Partnership said.
A “kitchen table summit” in 2017 between three prominent black activist organizations, the Partnership said, resulted in a ten-point agenda with three key goals. The first was creating a multidisciplinary cancer care team that was based on the needs of black cancer patients. Secondly, the goal was to close the gap in screening and early detection among black people; and thirdly, it was to make a concerted effort to promote the benefits of getting cancer screenings.
That first strategy has been effective so far, the Partnership said. Now, its second strategy is getting on the “kitchen table.”