• Despite being a preventable disease, colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men and women in the United States.
   

• 1 in 20 people will be diagnosed with colon cancer in their lifetime.
   

• 60% of all colon cancer deaths could be prevented with regular screening.
   

• Colon cancer can be prevented through early detection and removal of pre-cancerous polyps. Therefore, it is important to be screened for colon cancer at the appropriate age. It is important to talk to your doctor about your risk for colon cancer and when and how frequently you should be screened.

 

Our goal

To increase colon cancer screening among the medically underserved, uninsured and underinsured Georgians.

 

How we get there

Through our Georgia Colon Cancer Prevention Project, we educate and empower health care providers at Georgia’s community health centers to implement a successful colon cancer screening program to save lives.
 

Identify each health center’s barriers to colon cancer screening and develop a tailored colon cancer screening action plan to overcome these challenges.
 

Engage patients by educating them on how colon cancer screening tests can improve their health and quality of life.

​

Coalition Building

We build coalitions with community health centers, charitable clinics, private medical practices and other organizations to ensure we are reaching all members of the underserved community. In Athens, we have formed a coalition with the Athens Nurses Clinic, Athens Neighborhood Health Center, Mercy Health Center, Habitat for Humanity, and local gastroenterologists to screen underserved community members for colorectal cancer. Working together, we can provide this life-changing and life-saving screening. This coalition will serve as a model for us as we move forward and build coalitions in other Georgia communities.