Annotations for Subject-headings: Cancer

The Latino community, according to many health experts, is often least likely to receive attention from policy makers often because there is little available information. A new study in the nation's capital seeks to change that. As Patricia Guadalupe reports.

For the first time ever, the National Cancer Institute, in cooperation with the Washington Hospital Center, will conduct an in-depth study of cancer in the Washington DC Latino community. It will start with the Salvadoran community, the largest group of Hispanics in the area. Investigator Dr. Elmer Huerta of the National Cancer Institute says the study will concentrate on behavioral patterns in educating that community.

Do they know that smoking cigarette causes cancer? Do they know that a pap smear is important to detect cervical cancer? Then we are trying to find out their attitudes towards cancer.

At the beginning of the study, government officials were at first concerned that because of the high number of undocumented Salvadorans, many people would be afraid to participate. But so far says Dr. Huerta response to the study has been very positive.

The Salvadorians who are coming to this interview after we explain to them what this study is about, they say, "listen, doctor, I don't care if you pay me or not. I think this study is so good, it's going to be so good for my community that I will work for free."

Over 2000 Salvadorans will be included in the six-month study for Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington.

According to government statistics, more than a third of all babies born in 1991 had unwed parents. These accounted for 22% of white births and 68% among African Americans, while a total of 39% of Latino births were to unmarried women. You're listening to Latino USA.

This is news from Latino USA. I'm Maria Martin. Another border community is reporting an alarming increase in a number of possibly environmentally-related diseases. From the twin cities of Nogales on the Arizona/Mexico border, David Barbour reports.

It was nearly two years ago that residents first realized there was a serious health problem in the border area of Nogales. Clusters of rare cancers began showing up, and one working class neighborhood could count 16 cases of cancer within a two block area. But it wasn't until a review of 600 death certificates indicating that nearly 50% were cancer-related, that community activists got the attention of state and federal health officials.

Dr. Larry Clark is with the University of Arizona's Cancer Center, and has uncovered a disturbing increase in cases of systemic lupus.

We've identified 18 definite or probable cases, and 30 possible cases. Nogales may have the world's highest rates of systemic lupus.

On December 2, Arizona Governor Fife Symington led an entourage of state and federal health and environmental officials to Nogales, Arizona to announce the creation of a border health task force to study the problem. Though more money has been promised to study the diseases, the causes are still anybody's guess. The residents of Nogales are still waiting for answers. For Latino USA, I'm David Barbour in Tucson.