The New York State Department of Health awarded the Broome County Health Department $1.125 million to fund businesses and organizations fighting preventable cancers, the Binghamton Homepage reports.
Here's what you should know:
1. The county is using the money to fund a three-pronged approach to fighting cancer.
2. The money will be put toward:
- Educating the public on ultraviolet radiation
- Funding breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screenings
- Encouraging children to get the human papillomavirus vaccine
3. Broome is one of only four counties to receive state funds.
4. Supervising Public Health Educator Mary McFadden said, "Our screening rates are poor. When we look at especially colorectal cancer screening rates, we fall well below the New York State average. The national average is about 80 percent and we're at about 60 percent right now for colorectal screening, which is one of the most preventable cancers we have."