Baltimore to Launch $2.8M Cancer Screening, Treatment Program

Maryland and Baltimore health officials on Nov. 13 launched a program that will provide free cancer screenings to up to 20,000 city residents a year and cover the full cost of treatment for participants who do not qualify for Medicaid or Medicare, the Baltimore Sun reports. Under the program, called the Baltimore City Cancer Plan, state and city health officials and doctors from the University of Maryland Medical System and Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions will test city residents for prostate, oral, breast and other cancers at nine clinics citywide. The program, which will use funds from the state's $150 million a year share of the national tobacco settlement, will cost about $2.8 million per year. Maryland is spending a total of $35 million on cancer screening programs statewide. "Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the state, and among African-American men over 30, it is the leading cause of death," Maryland Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene Dr. Georges Benjamin said, adding, "A lot of people think that getting cancer is a death sentence, but it need not be if it's caught early enough through screening" (Pelton, Baltimore Sun, 11/14).