(Casper, Wyo.) – The Wyoming Comprehensive Cancer Control Consortium (WCCCC) is inviting interested residents to share their ideas and opinions about cancer control efforts during a July 16 meeting set for Casper.
Supported by the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH), the WCCCC is a group of professionals, organizations and other individuals with the common goal of reducing the state’s cancer’s burden.
The upcoming meeting is intended to begin work on an updated five-year Wyoming Cancer Control Plan for 2016-20. The plan outlines Wyoming’s cancer control goals and strategies for cancer prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment and quality of life.
“We see this as an opportunity for WCCCC members and other interested residents to have a clear voice in the direction of future priorities and the strategies used to promote them,” said Julie Tarbuck, Comprehensive Cancer Control Program manager with WDH.
Tarbuck said previous cancer control plans and related WCCCC efforts have led to significant accomplishments in the state. “The WCCCC, through its work, has seen the creation of the Wyoming Colorectal Cancer Screening Program, the regional support system known as the Wyoming Cancer Resources Services Program, the annual childhood cancer camp known as Camp Courage Wyoming and the Prostate Cancer Task Force.
Partnerships have also been started with the Wind River Coalition to support increased reservation cancer and wellness education,” Tarbuck said. Other areas of emphasis include supporting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention national goal of 80 percent screening by 2018 through a focus on increasing colorectal cancer screening with the fecal occult blood testing.
“The results we’ve seen so far bring us closer to the ultimate goal of saving lives by reducing cancer as a significant health problem in our state,” Tarbuck said. “For many years, cancer has been the second leading cause of death in Wyoming.”
The July 16 WCCCC meeting will be at the Hilton Garden Inn in Casper from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
To become a WCCCC member or to learn more about the WCCCC and the Wyoming Cancer Control Plan, please visit www.fightcancerwy.org<http://www.fightcancerwy.org/>.