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Colorado
Coalition Uses State Cancer Plan to Help Raise Funds for Public Health Through Tobacco Taxes
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Public Health Problem
Chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer, are the most prevalent, costly, and preventable of all health problems. They account for about 70% of deaths in the United States each year, and death rates for these diseases are projected to increase sharply
in coming decades because of the aging of the U.S. population. Securing resources for combating chronic diseases remains an ongoing
challenge; states continue to face budget shortfalls that negatively impact their capacity to implement, sustain, or enhance health-related interventions, including cancer prevention and control activities.
In Colorado, budget shortfalls have resulted in the diversion of tobacco settlement funds to competing needs outside public health. Education
designed to promote cessation and reduce initiation of tobacco use has been underfunded, along with proven clinical preventive services for cancer and heart disease. Opportunities for controlling blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as for conducting screenings for cervical, breast, and colorectal cancers�interventions that can help prevent heart disease, detect cancer
early, and save lives�have been lost.
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Program Example
In 2004, Colorado voters approved an amendment
to the state's constitution, Amendment 35, which earned a place on the ballot through the efforts of citizens' groups concerned about the adequacy of health funding in the state. This measure increased sales taxes on tobacco products and specified how the resulting tax revenues must be allocated. As a result, new funds will be available for pressing health concerns.
The amendment mandates that 16% of the new revenues be used for the prevention, early detection, and treatment of cancer, heart disease, and pulmonary diseases.
The Colorado Cancer Coalition, a broad consortium
of organizations and individuals interested
in the prevention and control of cancer in Colorado, played an integral role in advancing support for Amendment 35 by providing an updated
state cancer plan. Staff from the Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Program (CCP), who have worked with the coalition since 1998 to determine
goals, objectives, and priorities for cancer
prevention and control, were instrumental in updating, enhancing, and refining this plan. Armed with a strategic action plan that was based on sound data and broadly supported, the coalition successfully garnered public support
for Amendment 35 and its cancer-related provisions.
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Implication and Impact
Passage of Amendment 35 underscores the value of having a current, statewide cancer plan that has been collaboratively developed and that is broadly supported. Equipped with such a plan, state cancer control coalitions are better prepared to address their state's specific cancer problems as well as to face challenges particular
to their state's political or fiscal landscapes.
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Contact Information
Comprehensive Cancer Program*
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
HPDP-CCP-A5
4300 Cherry Creek Drive South
Denver,
CO 80246
(303) 692-2519
Fax: (303) 782-0095
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*Links to non-federal organizations found at this site are provided solely as a
service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their
programs by CDC or the federal government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible
for the content of the individual organization's Web pages found at these links.
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