Public Health Creating Healthier Communities. Lung Cancer

Awareness Campaign on Lung Cancer
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Awareness Campaign on Lung Cancer
Though Americans are generally living longer, the quality of their lives is adversely affected by the rising incidences of chronic diseases. Chronic diseases are also a major cause of death all around the world. Cancer is one of the chronic diseases that have a huge impact both in the U.S. and all over the world. It is among the leading causes of death globally. It is estimated that 1,735,350 new cases of the disease will be reported in the U.S. in 2018 and 609,640 lives will be lost to cancer in the same period (National Cancer Institute, 2018). The government spent an estimated US$ 147.3 billion on cancer care in 2017. As the prevalence of the disease increases, the expenditure is also bound to rise. These chronic diseases can however be prevented by recognizing and addressing the interplay of the social factors that cause the disease such as education and access to care. 15.5 million people survived cancer in 2016, and the number is expected to rise to 20.3 million people by 2026 (National Cancer Institute, 2018). This paper seeks to design a cancer awareness campaign with the aim of educating the masses on the signs and symptoms of lung cancer, which is likely to increase incidences of early diagnosis and will ultimately translate into higher survival rates.
Lung Cancer
This campaign will focus on lung cancer. While efforts from both governmental and non-governmental organizations have increased the awareness and screening of various types of cancers, some types have been given more emphasis than others. Lung cancer is one of the types of cancers that have not received enough focus as compared to other types such as breast and prostate cancers. Moreover, there exists a huge knowledge gap concerning lung cancer. For instance, most people believe that the disease exclusively affects smokers and the old, which is not true according to statistics (Pirie, Peto, Green, Reeves, & Beral, 2016). This is the reason why I chose this particular type of cancer. Despite being traditionally neglected, a situation that has drastically improved over time, lung cancer is the second most common type of cancer after breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men. The disease accounts for 14% of all new cancer cases in the U.S. (American Cancer Society, 2018). Cancer also results in more deaths compared to prostate, breast, and colon cancers combined. The disease mostly occurs in people over the age of 65, but people under the age of 45 are also being diagnosed with the disease. The likelihood of developing the disease is 1 in 15 men and 1 in 17 women (American Cancer Society, 2018). The disease affects both smokers and non-smokers, though the prevalence is much higher among the smokers. The chance of black men developing the disease is 20% higher than in white men. Among the women, the rate is approximately 10% lower among the blacks as compared to the whites. Survival for people diagnosed with lung cancer depends on the stage of diagnosis (American Cancer Society, 2018). This awareness campaign seeks to educate the entire population, young and old, men and women, smokers and non-smokers, about the disease, ways to prevent it, and the symptoms to be on the lookout for. The expected impact of the awareness is increase in the numbers of early diagnosis. More people with the relevant signs and symptoms are expected to visit their general practitioners. General practitioner (GP) referrals and diagnostic tests are also expected to rise within the secondary care setting.
Goals of the Campaign
Lung cancer is among the leading causes of death in the U.S. The survival rates of the disease are also among the lowest of all cancers. Moreover, unlike other types of cancers that can be routinely screened, lung cancer is quite difficult to detect (American Cancer Society, 2018). The need to address this challenge prompted this campaign. This campaign will seek to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of lung cancer to enhance earlier diagnosis. The campaign will also seek to encourage people who exhibit the relevant symptoms to seek a medical opinion. This is fueled by the fact that early diagnosis of lung cancer greatly improves chances of survival. Access to curative treatments like radiotherapy and surgery following diagnosis is also crucial for survival. The campaign will seek to educate as well as provide new information regarding the disease. While the population generally associates lung cancer with smokers and the older people, there is a need to make it known that even the non-smokers a...