NCI National Cancer Institute www.cancer.gov U.S. National Institutes of Health

Health Disparities

The National Cancer Institute has designated reducing health disparities as a special challenge. The Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) health disparities mission is to monitor the differential burden of cancer among Americans and promote and conduct research that identifies and addresses the economic, social, cultural, psychological, behavioral, and biological mechanisms contributing to these disparities across the cancer control continuum and throughout the human lifespan.

NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program currently collects and publishes cancer incidence and survival data from population-based cancer registries covering approximately 26 percent of the US population. SEER coverage includes 23 percent of African Americans, 40 percent of Hispanics, 42 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives, 53 percent of Asians, and 70 percent of Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders.

Last Updated: 24 Sep 2009

Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences National Cancer Institute Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health USA.gov