Black Press series aims to decrease cancer rates

WASHINGTON (NNPA) — The News Service of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the Black Press of America, has launched a new op-ed series in partnership with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to address the issue of health disparities, including the disparate cancer rate, that has long plagued the Black community — and to educate Black newspaper readers on the best possible cancer-prevention and treatment measures.
"Health disparities in the U.S. are negatively affecting African American people from … death rates to health care," says NNPA Editor in Chief Hazel Trice Edney. "In recent years, we have reported on cancer disparities in the Black community, from the higher risks of lung cancer and cancer deaths faced by African American smokers to the prevalence of prostate cancer among Black men. We have also reported on the fact that African American women who get breast cancer are more likely to die from the disease than White women and are less likely to survive the five years after diagnosis. It's time to read from the experts some of the reasons for the outrageous statistics but — more importantly — what African American people can do to empower themselves for life."
The 25-part column series, titled "Lifelines," debuts this week in NNPA member newspapers across the country. All the columns will be produced by NCI to reach out to the African American community and reduce its cancer rates. NCI, America's premier cancer research institute, which is supported by federal tax dollars, is supporting the publication of the series with a $10,000 grant to the NNPA Foundation.
"At NCI, we are committed to reaching multicultural populations, which means reaching African Americans through a most trusted source of news and information, Black Press USA and the NNPA community newspapers,'' says Madeline LaPorta, NCI's associate director for the Office of Communications and Education.
The partnership is the second grant-based educational op-ed series of its kind to be launched by the NNPA News Service. The first, an AIDS education series by the Black AIDS Institute, was distributed last year. A third, a voter education series by the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, will be launched later this month.                 
—NNPA