PO Box 360
Trenton, NJ 08625-0360

For Release:
September 18, 2014

Mary E. O'Dowd, M.P.H.
Commissioner

For Further Information Contact:
Office of Communications
(609) 984-7160

Department of Health Hosts New Jersey Cancer Prevention Summit

The New Jersey Department of Health was joined today by health care leaders from across the state at the New Jersey Cancer Prevention Summit, which was held to discuss prevention and health promotion efforts, share best practices and foster collaborations for the future.

More than 200 physicians, nurses, local health officers, health educators, social workers and community leaders participated in the day-long conference, held at Pines Manor in Edison.

Deputy Health Commissioner Dr. Arturo Brito presented an overview of the Department's cancer research, screening and treatment efforts, funded at $58 million in the current state budget.

"The Department is working with our partners to give residents tools to prevent and identify cancer," said Dr. Brito. "Working together, we can help New Jersey residents access treatment early to improve survival and enhance the quality of life for patients and their families."

Dr. Brito discussed the Department's New Jersey Cancer Education and Early Detection (NJCEED) Program, which provides cancer education, screening and follow-up services to uninsured, low-income residents. The program served more than 25,000 residents last year. He also spoke about the Department's skin cancer screening program, "Choose Your Cover," which offered free skin cancer screenings at beaches, parks and public swimming pools for 1,400 residents this summer.

The Deputy Commissioner also covered the Department's effort to shift from disease treatment to disease prevention and health promotion to help New Jerseyans live healthier lives through Partnering for A Healthy New Jersey, the Department's Chronic Disease Plan.

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), more than half of all cancer deaths could be prevented by making healthy choices that lower the risk of getting cancer. Choices include not smoking, eating right, keeping active, maintaining a healthy weight, and getting recommended screening tests.

With earlier detection and improved treatments, cancer deaths in New Jersey have steadily declined at a rate of about 2 percent a year for more than a decade. Still, cancer claims the lives of about 17,000 New Jerseyans annually. More than 42,200 new cases of invasive malignant cancer were diagnosed in New Jersey in 2011.

Keynote speaker Dr. Otis W. Brawley, F.A.C.P., chief medical and scientific officer and executive vice president of the American Cancer Society, spoke on Cancer Control: Past, Present and Future. Antoinette Stroup, PhD, Director of the New Jersey Cancer Registry, outlined cancer prevalence rates in New Jersey. Workshops covered increasing cancer screening among vulnerable populations, healthy eating and active living, tobacco prevention and partnerships to promote prevention practices.

For more information about on the Department of Health's cancer programs visit:

www.nj.gov/health/cancer/index.shtml.


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Last Reviewed: 9/18/2014