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November 28, 2005
Los Angeles, CA - Comprehensive population-based health data are key to the battle against chronic diseases such as cancer, which is why the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has long been a partner in the California Health Interview Survey, the largest source of data about the health status of California adults, adolescents, and children. Using California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data to bolster its own national data sources has allowed NCI to get a richer picture of how cancer affects people throughout the United States.
Recently, NCI entered into a long-term agreement to fund a section of CHIS that covers cancer screening and diagnosis, demographics, and risk factors. The CHIS data will enable NCI to update and refine prior cancer data research and develop more information about how cancer affects Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, and other Asian ethnic populations who previously could not be studied using national data sources for prostate cancer screening, mammography follow-up, and cervical cancer screening. The survey also provides the institute with its largest sample of cancer information for American Indian/Alaska Native populations.
"The California Health Interview Survey helps us better understand populations that constitute large percentages of the California population but are too small to monitor in national samples," said Nancy Breen, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute. "This, and the valuable local estimates that CHIS provides, enhance national surveillance and make CHIS a model for state surveillance."
Policymakers, health advocates, providers, researchers, and many others look to CHIS as an invaluable health policy tool. Conducted every two years, CHIS is a collaborative effort of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, the California Department of Health Services, and the Public Health Institute.
"This relationship with the National Cancer Institute shows how critical CHIS data can be in identifying and addressing a variety of significant health issues, such as cancer, that confront communities across the country," said E. Richard Brown, Ph.D., director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and professor in the School of Public Health.
The latest funding agreement follows several years of shorter-term funding for CHIS from NCI. The new contract includes an initial two-year commitment of $2.66 million. The contract allows for additional funding over a period totaling 10 years, contingent on out-year budget approvals by NCI.
The 2005 California Health Interview Survey is currently in the field and includes the Cancer Control Module funded through this new agreement with NCI. Initial data and results from this survey will be available beginning in mid-2006. Other major supporters of the 2005 California Health Interview Survey include California Department of Health Services, The California Endowment, First 5 California, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research was established in 1994 and is one of the nation's leading health policy research centers. It is also the premier source of key health policy information for California. The Center is based in the UCLA School of Public Health and is affiliated with the UCLA School of Public Affairs.
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