The CDC National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR)-funded Pacific Regional Central Cancer Registry (PRCCR) established a cancer registry in each jurisdiction and the region beginning in 2007. The United States Affiliated Pacific Island (USAPI) jurisdictions include 3 Flag territories (Territory of American Samoa, Territory of Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)) and 3 Freely Associated States (The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), the Republic of Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) which consists of Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap States). The total population of these 6 USAPI jurisdictions numbers slightly more than 460,000, and the expanse of the entire region is almost twice that of the continental US. Since 2007, the University of Hawai'i (UH) has been the designated bona fide agent for each USAPI.
The purpose of this proposal is to continue and expand on PRCCR's capacity for high-quality cancer surveillance in the USAPI in the context of the resource constraints within each health system. We will utilize our existing collaborations to explore data reporting/modernization in the USAPI. Reports from the PRCCR will continue to inform other cancer and chronic disease programs, and clinical program planning, implementation, and evaluation. PRCCR data is among the highest quality population-based data sets and supports data-driven decision-making.
Our key partners will be the University of Guam and the Hawai'i Tumor Registry. A renewed partnership with the UH Telecommunications and Social Informatics research program will help us further explore electronic reporting feasibility. The Cancer Council of the Pacific Islands will continue to serve as the Advisory Committee/Advisory Board for the PRCCR. Close coordination with the Pacific Islands Health Officers Association will ensure collaboration across regional NCD programs.
The project has several main goals, designed to attain NPCR Program standards eventually. Our planned outcomes are:
• Improve timely collection and dissemination of high-quality data on all reportable incident cancer cases, utilizing improved data linkages to support data-driven decisions for the spectrum of cancer prevention and control.
• Improve each jurisdiction's ability to meet NPCR National Data Quality and Advanced National Data Quality standards for completeness.
• Increase data use and dissemination to support jurisdiction and regional chronic disease and other public health programs and maintain the current level of data use to implement collaborative, evidence-based interventions (EBIs) for cancer prevention (including HPV immunization), tobacco control, cervical cancer screening, colorectal cancer screening, survivorship, and health disparity/equity strategies. This includes targeted cancer screening for populations at increased risk.
• Improve use of the data, as well as quality control findings (especially related to timeliness and case completion), that supports improvement efforts in health information management/health system changes and vital statistics (mortality reporting and coding)
• Increase availability of culturally- and resource-appropriate training and educational resources to build a more agile workforce and processes to implement changing data items, schema, and standards.
• Partner and assist in cancer-related data modernization activities, and promote interoperability to increase timeliness and complete data reporting to selected jurisdiction(s) and the region registry.
These outcomes align with the jurisdiction and regional comprehensive cancer control strategic plans and the CDC long-term outcomes. In addition to funding the administrative core housed at the UH, this project will continue to fund in-country cancer registry staff for USAPIs and travel support for training and QA visits.