Abstract IA08: Re-examining the Interplay between Structure, Cancer, and Cancer Health Policy

Abstract

Abstract The current COVID crisis has reminded many of us of the importance of structure on health. Whether the structure is a built environment, housing, education, or of the social construct type, it has significant impact at both the community and on an individual level. Many of the current structures contribute to the large disparities we have witnessed especially during this period of COVID. While there is much talk about the upstream determinants of health, it is important to recognize that these upstream determinants are also affected by the politics, policies, and economic realities of the day. For example, while informal discrimination and segregation has always existed in the US, the start of "Red-Lining" was started with the creation of the National Housing Act of 1934, which established the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The effects of Red-lining exacerbated and formalized segregation in the US, and the long lasting negative consequences of this policy are still felt today. There are a number of structural issues that have enhanced health disparities and specifically cancer health disparities. We will examine how the history of e.g. of “structural racism” has contributed to cancer health disparities and the current efforts underway to reduce these disparities. We will further discuss the interplay between current existing structures and their contribution to cancer, and the policies that contribute to cancer health disparities. Lastly, we will address the call to action to create beneficial policies that will help eradicate cancer health disparities. Citation Format: Robert A. Winn. Re-examining the Interplay between Structure, Cancer, and Cancer Health Policy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Conference: Thirteenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2020 Oct 2-4. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(12 Suppl):Abstract nr IA08.