Communities Work Together Towards Colorectal Cancer Prevention

November 12, 2009 by Roberto Arjona  
Filed under Featured Articles, Health

Denver, Colorado. (ConCienciaNews) – For Luis Barrera, communications director at Avanza supermarkets in Denver, to offer good products to Hispanic families is as important as providing them with tools that contribute to their well-being and that of their communities.

That’s why, this month, Barrera is lending space at the Denver supermarket for three volunteers to set up a table with computers and internet access. The goal? To inform and educate Avanza’s consumers in Denver about colorectal cancer risks and how to prevent them.

This initiative is part of El Cancer nos Afecta a Todos, a campaign funded by the CDC, which has the goal to prevent colorectal cancer, the third most commonly diagnosed type of cancer among Hispanics.

From teaching them how to use the internet to accessing cancer-related information and where to go to obtain health resources and get a colonoscopy, health Promotoras are working directly with adults 50 and older throughout Denver Latino communities.

“People have been excited about this because the information is first-hand,” Barrera said. “The response has been great because people are always worried about their health.”

This is a concern that, according to Barrera, businesses should neither ignore, nor underestimate. As a Mexican immigrant committed to social causes, Barrera understands that making business should also go hand-to-hand with social responsibility.

“It’s not just about setting up a store and that’s it,” he said. “It’s also about interacting with the consumers and being part of their community.”

Barrera has been part of such initiatives even before his arrival in the United States seven years ago. In his native Mexico, he helped create projects that contributed to higher accessibility of cancer medications, the construction of a hospital and general assistance for kids with leukemia.

Once in the United States, Latino immigrants develop risk factors that make them more vulnerable to certain diseases, such as cancer. According to the CDC, 41 percent of Mexican American adults between 50 and 83 years old admitted in a 2003 study to never having any sort of colorectal cancer detection test; just a few of them admitted having some sort of accurate knowledge of the disease; and 41 percent said they had had discussed detection with their doctors at some point.

Although general barriers that lead to the abovementioned situation include lack of information, lack of health insurance and language barriers, Latinos are also underrepresented among the medical communities through clinical trials; regardless of being the fastest-growing segment of the US population.

The medical community suggests over and over that a change in eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle may play a detrimental role in Hispanics’ propensity to cancer.  For this reason, besides adopting a healthy diet and exercising regularly, the CDC urges adults 50 and older –or those with a family medical history of colorectal cancer—to get tested for colorectal cancer.

Doing so can save many lives.

For information and resources regarding the El Cancer nos Afecta a Todos campaign, call our helpline at 1-800-473-3003