MORRIS COUNTY CANCER COALITION
For many years, extensive efforts have been made nationally to contend with and manage what is referred to as the cancer burden. Professional medical organizations and the American Cancer Society, the federal government, and several private foundations have sponsored research, set standards, promulgated best practices, and have advocated and lobbied for funds and promoted activities to study and reduce the effect of the disease. The results have been significant and many cancers are now regarded as chronic diseases that can be managed with the reasonable expectation of long life. The progress made on behalf of childhood cancers is a distinguished example. It is believed that additional benefits can be achieved if those successes can be extended to specific geographic areas with the aid of local leadership. The Morris County Cancer Coalition, along with other coalitions in each New Jersey County, are recognized by the state as organization's that can plan the projects necessary to achieve those benefits. The origin of the Morris Coalition is linked to New Jersey Cancer Education and Early Detection (NJCEED) service, a program of the NJDHSS that provides outreach, education and screening services to disadvantaged populations in each New Jersey county. The programs address four types of cancer: breast, cervical, colorectal, and prostate. The CEED Program initiated by Morristown Memorial Hospital has been operating successfully for many years. The Task Force published its Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan early in 2003. Their work added lung, oral, skin, and children’s cancers to the four sites addressed by the CEED programs. For the first time in New Jersey’s history, a major long term planning effort was mounted by the NJDHSS to focus on a specific disease. The Task Force and the NJDHSS next sponsored a study in each county of the need for cancer control resources and practices that focused on the seven cancer sites and cancer services for children. The NJDHSS and the Task Force are making a sustained statewide effort to manage the cancer burden with increased knowledge and resources. The study of Morris County, completed in 2003, is a more than 400 page document that has been published in abridged form and reports extensive information on the status of cancer, the population it affects, and the resources available to manage the disease. This Morris County Report Summary is available on this website, and the New Jersey Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan is available on the website of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services http://www.state.nj.us/health/ under the heading of “cancer information.” The Morris Coalition was established in 2004 and used the New Jersey Comprehensive Cancer Control and Prevention Plan and the Morris County Report Summary as part of its work to recruit its membership and to formulate its initial program. In September, 2007, the Morris Coalition published a Morris County Cancer Management Plan. The plan is a fact- based statement of goals and objectives specific to the seven priority cancer sites identified by the state plan, and provides a focus on those aspects of the cancer burden that are prominent in Morris County. It was produced by a consensus of several organizations that serve Morris County, including Chilton Memorial Hospital, Morristown Memorial Hospital, St. Clare’s Hospital, the American Cancer Society, the Morris Regional Public Health Partnership, and the Morris County Office of Health Management. In addition to goals for the state’s seven priority cancers, the Morris Plan identifies three overarching goals for all cancers:
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