Advancing Health Equity – Addressing Cancer Disparities
We believe all people should have a fair and just opportunity to live a longer, healthier life free from cancer regardless of how much money they make, the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, or where they live.
For the American Cancer Society (ACS) and our non-profit, non-partisan affiliate American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN)SM, health equity means everyone has a fair and just opportunity to prevent, find, treat, and survive cancer. It requires us to eliminate barriers and address needs to ensure everyone has the same opportunity to be healthy and cancer-free.
Meet Jenny and MaryAnn: childhood friends, both with breast cancer, but with very different experiences. After viewing the video, we encourage you to reflect on what you observed and then connect with friends, family, and co-workers. Think about how you can apply a health equity lens in your daily work, decision-making, and interactions with others. It will take all of us working together to change the narrative for survivors like MaryAnn. Hear her story, continue the conversation with our Discussion Guide, and learn how you can join the fight to advance health equity by continuing below.
Health Equity Resources:
Patient Support
- Health Equity Impact Report: A sample compilation of milestones, key performance indicators, success stories, lessons learned, and personal narratives, capturing the impact of the Patient Support Pillar programs and services through a health equity lens.
- The Facts On Our Fight: a series of data briefs that talk about cancer disparities and the work ACS and ACS CAN are doing with communities to advance health equity.
- Making the Case for Health Equity: Facts, definitions, and statistics about cancer health disparities and why equity matters.
- Health Equity Principles: Nine principles of health equity guide ACS and ACS CAN’s work to promote and embrace health equity in all that we do.
- The Inclusive Language and Writing Guide: Provides preferred word choices and phrasing to communicate accurately, respectfully, and consistently about cancer disparities
- The Health Equity Playlist on YouTube
- ACS Patient Support Programs and Services
Health Equity through the Cancer Lens
Cancer is a disease that can affect anyone, but it doesn’t affect everyone equally. Many barriers can impact a person's ability to prevent, find, treat, and survive cancer. These barriers are because of deeply rooted, long-standing inequities at all levels of society that will take an intentional effort to address in order to have equal cancer outcomes. They are complex and have many social, economic, and cultural influences that intertwine and impact each other. They include such examples as:
- Racism and other forms of discrimination
- Poverty
- Limited access to the health care system, including affordable and adequate insurance coverage and access to high-quality health care
- Inadequate pay and lack of paid time off from work for medical care- Low-quality education
- Lack of access to healthy and affordable foods- Lack of transportation that is accessible, affordable, and reliable-
- Lack of safe, stable, and affordable housing
Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical to achieving our mission, and reducing cancer disparities is an overarching goal of the American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. We need to make sure everyone has the ability to benefit from advancements in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. All people deserve a fair and just opportunity to live longer, healthier lives; this is demonstrated through our Core Value of diversity and intentionally striving for equity through inclusion and respect.
We believe that we will not reach our mission if we are not inclusive of every community touched by cancer, actively working towards ending cancer disparities. We acknowledge that there is still much work to be done, in partnership with communities that have been disproportionately burdened by cancer and who experience greater obstacles to cancer prevention, early detection, treatment, and survival. This includes Black people and African Americans; Hispanic/Latino people; Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders; Indigenous people and Alaska Natives; LGBTQ+ people; and people with disabilities. Health is not always “one size fits all,” and we must be intentional, thoughtful, and inclusive if we are to have long-lasting impact.
…In short, we are leading the fight against cancer that benefits all, and ‘walking the talk’ in every aspect of our organization. I am proud of what we have achieved so far, proud of what we have planned, and proud that the American Cancer Society is ‘the’ leader in leveraging advocacy, discovery, and patient support to bring about equity in cancer prevention and cancer care.
In order to further reduce deaths due to cancer disparities, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has strengthened its organizational commitment to advance health equity through its work at the national, state, and local levels. Health Equity is not a program but rather an approach to improve health outcomes and reduce cancer disparities. Our mission is to engage marginalized populations to shape patient support policies, programs, and services while addressing barriers to quality preventive care, screening, cancer treatment, and survivorship.
Most importantly, we need to listen to the experiences and perspectives of people with cancer, their caregivers, and their communities, and engage them in the fight against cancer every step of the way. We’re proud to have staff, volunteers, partners, and funders who are deeply committed to diversity, inclusion, and health equity. It has never been more important to the work we do.
