MARYLAND CANCER PREVENTION AND CONTROL PROGRAM - The goal of the Maryland Cancer Prevention and Control Program is to implement cancer prevention and control programs to reduce morbidity, mortality, and related health disparities in Maryland. Program 1: National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program The Maryland Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (MBCCEDP) will implement a comprehensive, data-driven, and health equity-focused approach to decrease breast and cervical cancer disparities, morbidity, and mortality in the State of Maryland. MBCCEDP oversees 16 direct screening programs across the state that provide vulnerable women with quality breast and cervical cancer screening, diagnostic, and patient navigation services. MBCCEDP works with state, regional, and local partners to increase client recruitment efforts and link women to appropriate resources such as a medical home and health insurance marketplaces. Additionally, MBCCEDP partners with health systems and primary care clinics to incorporate sustainable evidence-based interventions into their standard of care. MBCCEDP will work towards the goal of eliminating disparities in breast and cervical cancer screening and outcomes. MBCCEDP serves low-income, uninsured and underinsured women in Maryland. However, as Black and African American women in Maryland experience significantly higher late-stage diagnoses and higher mortality rates compared to other groups, MBCCEDP will allocate resources, engage partners, and monitor outcomes to prioritize the Black and African American population under this cooperative agreement. The Hispanic population, which makes up a large percentage of uninsured Marylanders and faces English-proficiency and other barriers to health care access, will be a second target population for MBCCEDP. Program 2: National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program The goal of the Maryland Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (MCCCP) is to address cancer prevention and control issues in the state of Maryland by convening stakeholders, using and sharing surveillance and other data, and implementing formal plans to reduce the burden of cancer in the state. MCCCP focuses on implementing evidence-based interventions to increase and improve primary prevention, early detection and screening, and the health and wellbeing of cancer survivors. MCCCP established the Maryland Cancer Collaborative (MCC) in 2011, bringing together diverse stakeholders to develop and implement the Maryland Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan, which guides cancer prevention and control priorities in the State of Maryland. MCCCP will maintain, support, and engage the MCC and MCC Workgroups throughout the five-year project period. MCCCP will also establish, maintain, and/or support other active stakeholder groups in Maryland, including the Patient Navigation Network, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Task Force, Maryland Colorectal Cancer Task Force, and Lung Cancer Collaborative. Internally, MCCCP will continue to foster regular collaboration among other Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- and State-funded cancer and chronic disease programs, sharing the MCCCP’s expertise in implementing policy, systems, and environmental approaches and clinical-community linkages. Program 3: National Program of Cancer Registries The Maryland Cancer Registry (MCR) aims to reduce the burden of cancer in Maryland. Under this cooperative agreement, the MCR will work toward this goal by continuing to collect data on all the incidence cases of cancer in the State of Maryland. The collected data will be used to monitor trends and patterns in cancer incidence, guide the planning and evaluation of cancer control programs, help set priorities for allocating public health and health care resources, assess cancer cluster concerns, provide information for a national database of cancer incidence, and exchange cancer data with other states to assure more complete and accurate incidence data.