The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network is Driving Health Equity Initiatives.

Cancer is a disease that can affect anyone, but it doesn’t affect everyone equally. Many barriers can impact a person's ability to prevent, find, treat, and survive cancer.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion is critical to achieving our vision of ending cancer as we know it, for everyone. All people deserve a fair and just opportunity to live longer, healthier lives; ACS and ACS CAN are deepening our efforts to intentionally advance health equity through advocacy, discovery, and patient support.

• Working to advance policies that break down existing barriers, from ensuring greater diversity among clinical trial participants to improving access to quality, affordable health care, through the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
• Invest $16 million in grants to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to diversify the future workforce.
• Working to identify and understand issues related to cancer disparities and advancing health equity by conducting equity-focused research, as well as funding researchers through extramural grants.
• Working to diversify the research workforce through our Diversity in Cancer Research and ResearcHERS programs.
• Contributed to more than 1.3 million low to no-cost breast, cervical or colorectal cancer screenings in local communities since 2011.
• Partner with national Black organizations to spread awareness about cancer risk, prevention, and early detection in the Black community.
• Partner with the Health Equity Ambassador Link (HEAL) program to address cancer disparities by developing capacity to educate, mobilize, and engage African American communities in cancer risk reduction