Turn Up the Volume on Iowa Cancer Rates

99 Counties – Show Up, Stand Up, Speak Up

Just to be clear, when Art Cullen tells me to do something I always try to do it, to the best of my ability. On January 8th Art published this Substack post – Time to make some noise about cancer in Iowa. As per usual Art remembers the old journalistic rule, “don’t bury the lead.” Nicely done Art, your opening says it all:

“People are talking about Iowa’s alarming cancer rates, but they need to turn up the volume.” Art Cullen, Editor, Storm Lake Times Pilot

I have been trying to raise awareness about Iowa’s alarming cancer rates. Exactly one month ago I wrote and posted this – And then there were six – here on my Substack. I should have written more by now, but I have not. That essay was an emotional bit of writing for me and in my defense quite a bit of the last month has been the end-of-year and holiday season, so, lots of distractions.

Art remains, nonetheless, correct in his call for all of us to turn up the volume about cancer rates in Iowa. I’m sure if I showed him my earlier writing on this subject, he’d say something like, “that’s a good start, solid work, now go do it again, and again. Turn up the volume John.”

And so I will. Mr. Cullen’s column reinforced his call to turn up the volume with a quote from Dr. Mary Charlton, Professor of Epidemiology, University of Iowa’s College of Public Health:

“We have to start getting loud with our elected officials about doing something about it [Iowa’s alarming cancer rates].” Mary Charlton, PhD

Dr. Charlton and the U of Iowa CPH are putting their money (and time) where their mouths are, giving her statement force and substance. Much more than the platitudes I often hear from those very elected officials to which she refers.

Dr. Charlton and the Iowa Cancer Registry at the U of Iowa CPH have launched the Caner in Iowa: 99 Counties Project to “present county-specific cancer information and address community concerns in each of Iowa’s 99 counties.” A project summary on the 99 Counties Project website explains the work undertaken by the partners:

Addressing local cancer rates across the state of Iowa

The Iowa Cancer Registry and University of Iowa College of Public Health, in collaboration with the Iowa Cancer Consortium, University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Iowa Rural Health Association, is hosting the Cancer in Iowa: 99 Counties Project to present county-specific cancer information and address community concerns in each of Iowa’s 99 counties.

Iowa has the second highest rate of new cancers in the U.S. The 99 Counties Project is a public health initiative aimed at enhancing cancer education and community engagement across the state. Reports containing information about the rates of new cancers and cancer deaths in each county compared to the state of Iowa and the U.S., as well as risk factor data from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, will be presented to each county. There will be time allotted to listen to the questions, concerns, and ideas from community members. Information about resources to help reduce the burden of cancer will also be provided.

“The goal of the 99 Counties Project is to provide local partners with actionable cancer data specific to their county so they can address cancer concerns and promote healthier communities,” says Mary Charlton, professor of epidemiology at the University of Iowa and director of the Iowa Cancer Registry.

Representatives from the 99 Counties Project are working with Public Health Directors and health systems to schedule meetings for each of Iowa’s 99 counties. Those dates and locations (online or in-person) will be posted online when available. Check back for updates.

The first 99 Counties local public meeting was held in Palo Alto County on November 18, 2024. Dickinson County will be the focus of the next public meeting on January 23rd. Go to the Caner in Iowa: 99 Counties Project website to find out when there will be a local public meeting for your county and keep going back because they are still working on setting up dates for counties after Palo Alto, Dickinson, Shelby, Chickasaw and Bremer, which will all take place by the end of February.

I join Art Cullen in calling on all of us, on you, on me… all of us, to turn up the volume about Iowa’s alarming cancer rates. Art is doing his part, and I’ll wager he’ll do more in the future. Dr. Charlton is clearly doing her part, along with her partners in the 99 Counties Project. I am trying to step it up and turn up the volume as well, although I have work to do to catch up to Art and Dr. Charlton.

Moreover, I will not, ultimately, be successful in turning up the volume about cancer rates in Iowa until I can convince you all, my readers, to join in and raise up your voices as well. Whenever possible in my writings I try to leave you with something that you can actually do to address the stern challenges that we face in Iowa. And the 99 Counties Project provides a simple, relatively painless action that you can take and make a real difference, perhaps for some, a life-or-death difference.

Here is what you can do, right now. Go to the 99 Counties website – here is that link again – and find out when your county meeting will take place. If it isn’t scheduled yet, bookmark the website and check back in a couple of weeks. Once you know when your county meeting will occur, put it in your calendar and make plans to show up.

And most important, on that day, show up, stand up, speak out. You know what’s at stake. You’ve lost someone to cancer, or you know someone who has lost someone to cancer. I know that is true because you know me, and I have lost five members of my immediate family to cancer. Ask a question, make a comment, offer a solution if you have one, but whatever you do, show up, stand up and speak up. Turn up the volume on cancer in Iowa… john