• 10/25/2004
  • Rosemarie Bernardo
  • starbulletin.com

Through education and improving access to health care, a coalition of government and private health agencies has developed a strategy to reduce cancer rates in Hawaii.

“If we detect it early, we can save lives,” said Dr. Virginia Pressler, chairwoman of the Hawaii Comprehensive Cancer Program.

The effort by 75 health and community agencies to fight the second-leading cause of death in Hawaii is made up of eight strategies that include prevention, early detection, uniform access and insurance coverage issues.

“The reason why it’s so important for everyone to become involved in cancer care is because almost everybody in the state has been touched by cancer in some way whether it’s themselves, a family member, their friend. Everybody has a role to play,” said Pressler.

About 70 percent of all types of cancer could be prevented by not smoking, having a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables and being physically active, said Pressler.

Gov. Linda Lingle, who had a breast cancer scare two years ago, joined representatives of the American Cancer Society, the Cancer Research Center Hawaii and other groups to announce the plan yesterday.

“Too many women, as it relates to breast cancers, have reached a point in their mind where ‘if I don’t know it, can’t hurt me mentality,'” said Lingle. “Of course, what you don’t know can not only hurt you in this case, it can kill you.”

Lingle related how, during a mammogram, doctors detected abnormal cells that later turned out not to be cancerous.

“Fortunately, I was OK. But that scare gave me an understanding of the physical and psychological pain that is endured by cancer patients,” she added. “It also strengthened my conviction that Hawaii must do all it can to prevent and cure cancer.”

Lingle said the plan will help the state make improvements in research and uniform access to care.

“Nobody should not be able to get a mammogram or be tested for prostate cancer because they can’t afford it,” said Lingle.

She also stressed that residents need to take care of themselves.

“It’s your responsibility to go and get tested. It’s a responsibility to your family, and it’s a responsibility to society in general.”

Pressler said a comprehensive approach to curing cancer is necessary to help patients beat the disease and that residents can do their part to remind friends, family members and co-workers to have regular screenings.

“It really requires a team approach to provide optimal care, and we know that providing that kind of care, we can improve outcomes and better quality of care and life for patients and their family, also,” she said.

“People used to think if someone has cancer, they’re going to die. It doesn’t have to be that way. If it’s caught early and if it’s treated properly, it becomes a chronic disease just like high blood pressure or anything else that someone lives with,” she said.

Last year, more than 5,000 Hawaii residents were diagnosed with cancer. About 1,800 people, or 25 percent of those diagnosed, die from cancer each year.

Lung cancer is the primary cause of death among men and women. Men of Hawaiian descent are the largest ethnic group diagnosed with lung cancer. Prostate cancer is the leading type of cancer in men, while breast cancer is the leading type of cancer in women.

Among those at yesterday’s news conference was 60-year-old Momi Kamau, who was diagnosed with throat cancer two years ago.

Surgeons at St. Francis Medical Center in Liliha removed a tumor, and Kamau, who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years, is now cancer-free. She checks in with her doctor every six weeks.

“I’m just very thankful every day,” said Kamau, chief of the maternal and child branch of the state Department of Health.

“You never know,” said Kamau, now 62, who quit smoking for 20 years before she was diagnosed with cancer. “You need to be vigilant in your own health.”