August 20, 2014
Suffolk County Joins New York Cancer Consortium in Rolling out Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan Dashboard
The Suffolk County Department of Health Services, in partnership with the New York State Cancer Consortium, today announced the launch of the New York State Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan Dashboard. The consortium is a network of individuals and organizations that collaborate to address the burden of cancer in New York State guided by the New York State Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan, 2012-2017.
“As a member of the consortium, Suffolk County’s health department participated in the development of the New York State Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan,” said County Executive Steve Bellone. “This dashboard will provide us with the information we need to monitor progress as we work toward cancer prevention and control in Suffolk County.”
The interactive, web-based dashboard will be used to monitor the progress of 24 health- promotion, cancer- prevention and early-detection indicators identified in the Cancer Control Plan so that state- level progress can be tracked and priority areas can be readily identified. As priority areas are identified, local health departments will be on the front lines in raising awareness and promoting best practices in health care.
One such priority area is the need to prevent and reduce the incidence of human papilloma virus. The HPV vaccine is the only vaccine that prevents cancer. The dashboard illustrates that only 40 percent of girls 13-17 years of age have completed the necessary three doses of the vaccine, and about 18 percent of boys 13-17 years of age have received even the first dose in New York State. The HPV virus is thought to be responsible for more than 90 percent of cervical and anal cancers, about 70 percent of vaginal and vulvar cancers, and more than 60 percent of penile cancers. There is a clear need to promote the HPV vaccine to parents, health care providers and boys and girls. This information fuels the fire for organizations concerned with cancer prevention to raise awareness about this lifesaving vaccine, particularly as August marks National Immunization Awareness Month.
“Cancer is the second leading cause of death in New York State. Each year, in Suffolk County there are approximately 9,000 new cases of cancer and 2,800 deaths due to cancer. Collaboration between government, health care providers, advocacy groups and other stakeholders is essential to address the burden of cancer across the continuum of cancer care, from prevention and early detection to treatment and quality of life issues,” said Suffolk Health Commissioner James Tomarken, MD, MPH, MBA, MSW. “The dashboard is a tool that will help to guide our collaborative work to meet the goals and objectives identified in the New York State Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan.”
The Suffolk County Department of Health Services will continue to work with our Cancer Prevention and Health Promotion Coalition, a dedicated committee of county staff and health advocacy organizations, to achieve these goals in Suffolk County. For information specific to Suffolk County, see the Cancer Prevention and Health Promotion Coalition website at http://www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/HealthServices/CancerPreventionandHealthPromotionCoalition.aspx
The dashboard will be hosted on the New York State Department of Health’s public website and data will be maintained by their staff.
To see the dashboard, visit www.health.ny.gov/cancercontroldashboard
To see more about the consortium, go to: www.nyscancerconsortium.org
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