1. Health Disparities and the Intercultural Cancer Council (ICC) Pamela K. Brown, Associate Director Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center Chair, ICC

2. The ICC Mission The Intercultural Cancer Council (ICC) promotes policies, programs, partnerships, and research to eliminate the unequal burden of cancer among racial and ethnic minorities and medically underserved populations in the United States and its associated territories.

3. What Are Health Disparities? Health disparities, in general, only impact a select segment of the population - - - those who have the least resources, human and material, to cope with disease.

4. Health Disparities Include The systemic barriers that block access to cancer education and optimal screening, treatment, and survivor services, The reasons people don’t comply with lifestyle recommendations that will keep them healthy,

5. Health Disparities Include The reasons some people get and/or die of certain cancers because of their race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, genes, and geographic location, and The way people with cancer are treated differently depending on their class, race and ethnicity.

6. How ICC Addresses Health Disparities “Speaking With One Voice”- - - ICC is an organization of organizations - - Susan G. Komen, Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, the National Organization for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Pain Foundation, Genentech, Kellogg Foundation, U.S. Oncology, Inc., the Office of Minority Health, the Center for Cancer Health Disparities and more...

7. How ICC Addresses Health Disparities “Speaking With One Voice”- - - working with the other National Partners for Cancer Control - - - the National Cancer Institute and its Cancer Information Service, the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lance Armstrong Foundation, C-Change and others...

8. How ICC Addresses Health Disparities “Speaking With One Voice”- - - representing all races, ethnicities and others struggling to access quality health care

9. How ICC Addresses Health Disparities 11th Biennial Symposium on Minorities, the Medically Underserved and Cancer Charting A New Course Together: Quality Health Care For All April 3 – 6, 2008, Washington D.C.

10. How ICC Addresses Health Disparities ICC National Network - - -engages community-based organizations and coalitions in education, training and advocacy

11. How ICC Addresses Health Disparities ICC Caucus - - - established for the purpose of public policy advocacy to eliminate the unequal burden of cancer among racial and ethnic minorities and medically underserved populations in the U.S. and its associated territories.

12. How ICC Addresses Health Disparities ICC Caucus - - - The Caucus advocates for 1)increased access to clinical and prevention trials 2)improved quality of cancer control data, and 3)balanced funding of basic research and cancer control applications research for racial and ethnic minorities and medically underserved populations.

13. ICC Public Policy Principles All Americans, particularly minorities, the medically underserved and cancer survivors must have facilitated access to the health care system. Care must include cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, mental health, and long-term care services.

14. ICC Public Policy Principles Survivors, minorities and culturally diverse individuals must have major roles in developing health policies and programs intended for their communities. This will maximize the programs' cultural competence and effectiveness and will result in saved lives.

15. ICC Public Policy Principles Health materials which are culturally appropriate must be developed and aggressively disseminated. New programs must promote educational efforts to counteract fatalism and overcome fears...

16. ICC Public Policy Principles Survivors' programs are needed to replace denial and ignorance with confidence and the knowledge of how to prevail over cancer. These are steps that will enable culturally diverse and medically underserved people to obtain health services to reduce cancer.

17. ICC Public Policy Principles Much higher priority must be given to research and control programs on cancers disproportionately affecting minorities and the medically underserved. Research must focus on cancer disparities between population groups, as well as relevant risk factors.

18. ICC Public Policy Principles More comprehensive epidemiological research to accurately document the scope of cancer in minority and medically underserved communities if we are to design effective interventions.

19. ICC Public Policy Principles Diverse populations must be fully represented in clinical studies and research supported by public and private sector funds. This requires third-party coverage of patient care costs associated with these trials, including maximum cooperation from managed care systems.

20. ICC Public Policy Principles Researchers from minority communities must be trained, developed and utilized at all research and research management levels.

21. ICC Public Policy Principles Train and expect health care providers to be more sensitive and culturally competent in understanding the needs of minorities and socio-economically disadvantaged Americans...

22. ICC Public Policy Principles Individuals from racial, ethnic and culturally diverse groups must be involved in the design and delivery of cancer education and patient advocacy programs if they are to be successful in their target populations.

23. ICC Public Policy Principles Preventive health education and medical benefits must be provided in a variety of health care settings. Health care delivery systems must be organized to reduce fragmentation of community services and increase efficiency of delivery.

24. Pamela Brown, MPA Cancer Prevention and Control Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center West Virginia University PO Box 6886 Morgantown, WV 26541 Email: pbrown@hsc.wvu.edupbrown@hsc.wvu.edu