§ 20-15-1902 - Findings. [Contingent effective date.] - Arkansas Statutes

20-15-1902. Findings. [Contingent effective date.]

(a) The General Assembly finds that:

(1) (A) Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Arkansas.

(B) Colorectal cancer is estimated that one thousand six hundred thirty (1,630) new cases of colorectal cancer will be diagnosed in Arkansas during 2009;

(2) Screening for colorectal cancer may identify the precursors of cancer before the disease begins and the precursors may be removed, thus preventing the emergence of most colorectal cancer; and

(3) The Colorectal Cancer Control Demonstration Project created in the Colorectal Cancer Act of 2005, 20-15-1701 et seq., has produced findings indicating that:

(A) (i) Statewide only one-half (1/2) of adults over fifty (50) years of age have received colorectal cancer screening within the recommended time interval and thirty-five percent (35%) have never been screened.

(ii) Screening rates are twenty-five percent (25%) lower in under-served areas of the state where health care services, health insurance coverage, educational attainment, and household income are limited;

(B) (i) Forty percent (40%) of Arkansans who should be screened for colorectal cancer have never received physician advice to be screened.

(ii) An individual in an underserved area of the state is less likely to receive appropriate advice about effective screening methods than is an individual in a better-served area of the state;

(C) (i) Fewer than forty percent (40%) of Arkansas citizens know that periodic screening for colorectal cancer should start at fifty (50) years of age.

(ii) Fifty-six percent (56%) of Arkansas citizens rate themselves as being at low risk for colorectal cancer.

(iii) Forty-two percent (42%) of Arkansas citizens identify cost as a significant barrier to screening; and

(D) (i) Eighty-one percent (81%) of low-income patients enrolled in the demonstration project successfully completed colorectal screening.

(ii) A statewide screening program for underserved individuals could reduce cancer incidence among screened individuals by thirty-two percent (32%), reduce five-year mortality risk by twenty-five percent (25%), and reduce cancer treatment costs by fifty-four percent (54%).

(b) This subchapter is intended to reduce the physical and economic burden of colorectal cancer in Arkansas by supporting research and cancer control activities across Arkansas.