The Essential Role of Public Health in Preventing Disease, Prolonging Life, and Promoting Health of Cancer Survivors

Cancer Survivorship as an Area of Public Health Importance Public health’s longstanding mission has been to “prevent disease, prolong life, and promote health” through organized efforts across societies, organizations, communities, and individuals.1 The public health community has worked to achieve this mission of combating both infectious and chronic disease through research and surveillance, public health programs, health communication activities, and policy and system changes. Cancer survivorship serves as an example of the dynamic work of the public health community in addressing this issue. In the U.S., 14.5 million men, women, and children were estimated to be living after a cancer diagnosis (cancer survivors) in 2014.2 Cancer survivors routinely face physical, psychosocial, neurocognitive, spiritual, and financial challenges. The public health community has an essential role in addressing the needs of survivors and is uniquely positioned to intervene through prevention of recurrences, second cancers, and the side effects or consequences of cancer treatment to improve quality of life for each survivor. CDC’s Work in Cancer Survivorship CDC is the Federal government’s lead public health agency, which for more than a decade has employed an interdisciplinary public health approach to examine and address survivors’ needs. CDC and its survivorship workgroup have conducted research, surveillance, and programmatic work aimed at improving the experiences of survivors, their family members, friends, and caregivers across the cancer continuum. In 2004, CDC co-sponsored, with LiveStrong, the development of “A National Action Plan for Cancer Survivorship (NAPCS): Advancing Public Health Strategies.”3 The NAPCS, designed with feedback from nearly 100 experts in cancer survivorship, clearly outlined goals, activities, and priorities for addressing the needs and issues faced by canc