Cancer Control Program

Cancer Control Plan

Cancer Control Strategies

Cancer is a serious health threat in Rhode Island, killing over 2000 of our residents and costing the State hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Cancer can be controlled, though, as shown by progress made since writing the State's first cancer control plan in 1990. Science has learned more about how to prevent cancer, how to detect it early (when treatments work best), and how to treat cancer more effectively. 

History of Cancer Control Planning in RI

The Cancer Control Program is guided by an official Cancer Control Plan for the State of Rhode Island, originally published in 1989. In 1996, the Director of Health convened a Cancer Control Planning Task Force, composed of cancer control experts from the Rhode Island community and staff from the Rhode Island Department of Health ("HEALTH"), to revise Rhode Island's Cancer Control Plan. The plan is used by HEALTH and others in the State to guide public health programs that control cancer. 

Task Force volunteers gave very freely of their time to review Rhode Island cancer data and published scientific findings, to debate the pros and cons of applying recent gains in science, and to suggest ways in which those gains could be used to revamp public health programs.

Many of the ideas proposed by the Task Force were published in Medicine and Health / Rhode Island, Rhode Island's journal of medicine and public health practice. Articles were written on prevention, screening, treatment, and palliation and comments were invited from readers.  These comments were analyzed by the Task Force, and resulted in changes to the ideas as they were used to write the new Cancer Control Plan.

The findings of the Task Force were pulled together to draft a revised Cancer Control Strategic Plan for Rhode Island, which was read by cancer control experts throughout the State. Comments from these experts were used to refine the plan prior to its formal adoption by HEALTH in September, 1998.

In 2003-2004, the Rhode Island Cancer Control Plan was updated with the latest local and national statistics and reformatted for easier use by members of the cancer control community in Rhode Island. This new version of the plan is available for download below.

Cancer Control Plan

The Cancer Control Plan expands upon the information provided on the website pages for cancer prevention, cancer screening, and cancer treatment. HEALTH intends this to be a "working plan," easily revised in response to Rhode Island's changing cancer profile and to new scientific findings about the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer. As old sections are revised and new sections written, they will be circulated for public review, and revised on the basis of comments received. 

Updated 1998 Cancer Control Plan
This plan contains information on cancer control strategies and specific goals and objectives for cancer control in Rhode Island. Updated January 2004.

Annual Priorities

Every year, HEALTH will invite the cancer control community to join it in identifying annual priorities for cancer control, and developing for each:

• Description
• Annual goals
• Quantified outcome objectives
• Quantified process objectives
• Suggested stakeholders
• Evaluation plan