Highlighting Progress: Private Sector Actions Through the Biden Cancer Moonshot Are Increasing Access to Cancer Screening
Two years ago, in one of the first actions of the reignited Biden Cancer Moonshot, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden announced a call to action on cancer screenings. Over the course of the pandemic, Americans collectively missed nearly 10 million recommended cancer screenings. The President and First Lady have made it a priority to increase awareness and utilization of critical cancer prevention, screening, and early detection to improve health outcomes for all Americans. Since reignition, more than 35 private sector organizations have stepped up with new actions and collaborations aimed specifically at expanding access to cancer screenings and preventing more cancers before they start. Their progress has positively impacted nearly one million Americans so far.
Building on this, the Biden Cancer Moonshot established April as the inaugural National Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Month, and announced new actions from the Cancer Cabinet and private sector, as well as from leading employers and labor unions who took action to make cancer screenings more accessible for American workers.
Showcasing progress, the Biden Cancer Moonshot is highlighting updates from key private sector organizations who joined since 2022 to advance cancer screening and prevention. This work is critical to the Biden Cancer Moonshot goal to prevent 4 million deaths by 2047, and to end cancer as we know it.
- The National Minority Quality Forum committed to providing community-based resources through the Cancer Stage Shifting Initiative to promote cancer screening in medically underserved communities in Michigan, Texas, Alabama, Illinois, New York, and Maryland. Since the initiative launched in 2022, over 250,000 people have been screened for colorectal, lung, and breast cancer, and over 290,000 people were connected with locally-based resources.
- In early 2023, Siemens Healthineers committed to bringing uninsured women free mammograms to address cancer screening disparities in underserved urban and rural regions around the country. To date, Siemens Healthineers has provided over 1,500 uninsured women with free mammograms, and are continuing to partner with community organizations on screening for breast, lung, and liver cancers.
- The Delaware Imaging Network expanded its Enhanced Breast Cancer Detection Program to seven states—including New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Florida, Arizona, and California—to enhance breast cancer screening and early detection. Since launching in 2022, the program has successfully identified breast cancer in over 450 patients. These cancers could have gone undetected in a traditional screening program or diagnosed in a later exam, when outcomes are less optimal.
- Nueva Vida and Family Reach joined together to provide community navigation and financial support to Latinas facing breast cancer in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore metro area. Since announcing this partnership in early 2022, Nueva Vida has supported 1,053 Latinas in accessing breast cancer screenings and diagnostic services. Post-diagnosis, 110 women supported by Nueva Vida received direct financial assistance for basic needs like food, housing, and transportation through the collaboration with Family Reach, enabling Nueva Vida Navigators to ensure that these health-related social needs did not become a barrier to completing treatment.
- The Skin Cancer Foundation (SCF) provided free screenings and education materials in the spring and summer months of 2023 to promote early detection of skin cancer. Since announcing this commitment, SCF’s RV traveled nearly 10,000 miles, and volunteer dermatologists provided 1,845 free skin cancer screenings, which identified 788 potential skin cancers and precancers.
- The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation (RLCF) enhances and establishes Ralph Lauren Centers in historically diverse communities to help thousands of underserved patients navigate the continuum of cancer care. Since announcing their $25 million commitment to these efforts in spring 2022, RLCF has continued longtime support of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Ralph Lauren Center in New York City and opened the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention at Georgetown Lombardi in Washington, D.C. The Ralph Lauren Center at University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center will open in fall 2024, continuing the Foundation’s work to provide increased screenings, early diagnosis, treatment, and patient navigation services, while improving access to high-quality care.
- Exact Sciences launched the Funding Opportunities for Colorectal cancer Screening Uptake Strategies (FOCUS) program, which provides grant funding to community organizations, health foundations, public health organizations, and advocacy groups. Since its launch in 2022, the FOCUS Program has awarded more than $2.9 million to 49 organizations in 20 states across the country, reducing barriers to cancer screenings and improving health equity.
- GRAIL is conducting a study to observe real-world implementation of multi-cancer early detection. Since announcing this work in 2022, the study has enrolled over 2,700 patients across seven sites: Pittsburgh, Wilkes-Barre, Miami, Tampa, New Orleans, Salt Lake, and Boston. The study is assessing the performance of a multi-cancer early detection test in combination with recommended cancer screenings.
- The Promise Fund of Florida committed to doubling their reach to support women in South Florida. Since making the commitment in 2022, the Promise Fund has reached over 26,000 women with breast and cervical health education, screenings, and treatment.
- Fight Colorectal Cancer committed to working through its Catalyst State-by-State Advocacy Program to remove cost barriers to screening by advancing the Biden-Harris Administration’s guidance that commercial insurance plans must cover colonoscopies following an abnormal non-invasive colorectal cancer (CRC) screening test. Supporting state and local efforts, Fight CRC deployed an online screening quiz to evaluate CRC risk, which received over 4 million views with more than 425,000 completed.
- The Prevent Cancer Foundation shared evidence-based online resources in early 2023. To date, their education initiative—including screening options by age, information on vaccinations to prevent cancer, tools to find free and low-cost cancer screenings for people who may be uninsured or underinsured, and information on how family history can impact cancer risk—has received over 2.5 billion media impressions. More than 6,000 people have received personalized screening plans to share with their health care providers, so they can get the routine screenings they need.
- The Cancer Support Community (CSC) stepped up with a #GetScreened campaign. Its launch in 2022 coincided with the FDA OCE’s National Black Family Cancer Awareness Week, helping to mobilize CSC’s network, health care partners, and supporters. The initial communications campaign generated a reach of 145 million with the intention of getting people to pledge to get screened.
- The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) and AstraZeneca created the Rural Appalachian Lung Cancer Screening Initiative to address the higher cancer mortality rate in rural Appalachian counties. Since announcing this partnership in 2022, ACCC has initiated screening utilization quality improvement projects in Kentucky and Virginia to increase cancer screenings, and have published resources including a lung cancer infographic, screening guide, and geographic information systems map.
These accomplishments deliver significant progress toward addressing President Biden’s goal to end cancer as we know it. There is still more work to do. The Biden Cancer Moonshot will continue to expand prevention, detection, and diagnoses services for everyone in America. The Biden Cancer Moonshot will also continue to serve as a platform to highlight new actions and collaborations from the private sector that align with the goals President Biden and First Lady Biden have set for the Cancer Moonshot. We urge all sectors to make bold progress and deliver meaningful actions along with us.
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