Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 9, 1 September 1990 — Cancer grant made [ARTICLE]

Cancer grant made

The Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center has been awarded a five-year $1.2 million grant from the National Cancer lnstitute for eancer control in native Hawaiians. The grant wil! fund a cooperative agreement with the Cancer Research Center of the University of Hawai'i to create a community-based breast and cervical cancer prevention program. In part, they plan to form women's groups in the community to promote early detection of these forms of cancer. Granting of the award to a community health center rather than to an academic research institution is unique, according to project investigators. It reflects recognition of the creative approach to early cancer detection whieh has been developed by Wai'anae coast women themselves. The Hawai'i project will be linked in a cooperative fashion with studies being conducted among three native Amenean groups on the mainland to whom similar grants have been made. Launching of the project represents the sucressful outcome of more than two years of hard work by a subcommittee of the Wai'anae clinic's board of directors, who are mostly of Hawaiian ancestry and from the Wai'anae coast community. Committee members include Germaine Keliikoa, Nita llaban, Jay Landis, and Shelly Enos, MPH. Sharing their technical expertise with the eommittee were Ormond Hammond, PhD of Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate, Georgeda Buch'binder, M.D. of the University of Hawai'i School of Public Health, Brian Martin, M.D. and Betty Wood, PhD from the Cancer Research Center, Joanne Tsark, MPH from the Department of Health, Ron Paik, MPH from the Amenean Cancer Society, and Larry Koseki, PhD from the University of Hawai'i. Billie Hauge, George H. Mills, M.D. and Kekuni Blaisdell, M.D. were also involved in the early planning of the project. The committee is also staffed by Doris SegalMatsunaga, MPHand Terry Shintani, M.D., MPH. Principal investigator is Dr. Richard Banner, medical director of WCCHC and co-investigators Ho'oipo DeCambra, WCCHC board member and Dr. Brian Issell, director of the Cancer Research Center. The Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center is a private, non-profit community health center whieh is owned and operated by the eommunity and is partially funded by grants from government and private institutions. Its mission is to provide medical care to people regardless of ability to pay.